When your wife leaves you... (Part 2)

Are you ready for days two, three, and four of my home alone story, of being abandoned (well, not quite!) by my wife, who is by now most likely bathed in Californian sunshine and 30 degree temperatures, while I am stuck in the UK and 21 degrees, and thinking this is bloody hot!?

Last night I enjoyed the first of my ready meals, a prawn curry from Cook, whose ready meals i can wholeheartedly recommend. It was strange watching the TV, occasionally glancing across to where she normally sits, and missing the usual light-hearted discussions about what this or that actor had been in, then Googling the answer when neither of us could remember. Being in bed, which now seemed too big without her next to me, brought on a momentary feeling of loneliness, which thankfully passed.

I slept well. I awoke early, the sun was shining, so after my usual routine of a cuppa in bed and a quick catch up with the news and my social media, I showered, dressed and was up and out. I had recently purchased the Alltrails hiking app to help us discover new walks around where we live. I opted for a gentle introduction, a mere 2 miles around a nearby nature reserve. This was to be the app's first test.

The nature reserve was nothing special. I didn't see any wildlife, just a few cormorants and swans on the lake. A walk in the fresh air on a warmish day was, however, good for me, or so I kept telling myself. I went home, grabbed a bite of lunch, and did very little for the rest of the day except dose off in my chair, catching up with my my lost sleep from two nights ago.

I'm a volunteer at my local heritage centre, where I coordinate their marketing and do the occasional piece of copywriting, editing and proofreading. I'm telling you this because on day two of my story it was the Mayor's Medieval Day Festival, a part of which featured the heritage centre. Someone at the heritage centre had heard a rumour that I do a bit of photography, so I was asked if I would go a long and take lots of pics of people in Medieval costumes having fun and enjoying themselves. So I spent most of Saturday taking photographs.

Day three, which was Sunday, was another Alltrails walk, this time around a nearby country estate. The weather was again good, a tad warmer than yesterday. I completed the walk in a decent time without killing myself, although a great deal of the route was uphill and the path not too even in places. I decided to take it easy for the rest of the day.

As a side note: I can recommend the Alltrails app. It's easy to use, has thousands of walks of various lengths and degrees of difficulty. I bought the subscription version, which you can get for half price. 

Don't forget to come back for the next installment of 'When your wife leaves you...' a tale of an abandoned husband.

You can follow me on Threads and Instagram @smart_phone_photographer_53.

© Mike Young 2025.