L'île de Pietra, L'île Rousse, Corsica
September came and went without a moment to pause and pen a few words.
First came 5 minutes of fame via an article I'd written being posted as lead item in the parkrun UK monthly e-newsletter and across social media:
Joined the parkrun MS Facebook group and met some super lovely people still running all kinds of distances. No sooner had I finished chatting, tweeting (remember, neurologists tweet, friends facebook) and liked/replied to the last comment then we were off on holiday to Corsica for a whole week. Lucky, lucky us! Absolutely loved every minute! We travelled via Nice then Corsica Ferries to L'île Rousse on the north coast, rolled off the ferry along to the lovely and conveniently located Hôtel Santa Maria.
From our ground floor room terrace
Having stayed along the coast in Calvi two years ago I remembered Corsica doesn't do accessible not to mention all the beaches there are to visit . So opted to take Mac McLaren the all terrain wheelchair powered by breakfast and cake rather than Sitzkrieg the scooter powered by Lithium ion battery. In preparation, decided some practice was called for so began short trips around Street. I've gained confidence and learned techniques for turning, slowing down and stopping (without throwing Mac into a tailspin). It isn't easy starting over and using arms instead of legs to get around. Managed fine on my own around L'île Rousse in general, although it was good to have John to handle difficult road crossings and kerbs.
One thing we've learned is that, like an aircraft, only one pilot should be in control at any one time. Years ago, when I first met John as my flying instructor, I learned that the pilot says 'I have control' to take charge or 'you have control' to hand over to his co-pilot. In the US they say 'my plane' and 'your plane'.
So now when I say 'your plane' to handover to John or 'my plane' when he's not to interfere I smile to think how we had no idea all those years ago that we would be saying these words in this context today.
As it happens it's just as well I've become confident with Mac as Street parkrun has become difficult to negotiate with Sitzkrieg due to all the cracks that have opened in the clay from the summer. I even set Strava every time I take Mac for a push now! It's another exercise opportunity and chance to get an aerobic workout!
Haha, according to this a whole 5k would take 1 hour 20 minutes. Which is why I will never attempt a parkrun on grass!
