I played tennis this afternoon and realised how quickly two weeks of (relative) inactivity can quckly take its toll. By the end of 80 minutes I was exhausted. Hopefully this is as much the effect of the flight as a degeneration of stamina, but I am keen to get things back on track in terms of exercise and diet.
At one point in the game something rustled in a tree behind me and I found myself instinctively spinning round to see if I could spot a leopard. Within two seconds I had realised that the chances of seeing a leopard in West London are slight (though not impossible) and I concluded that it was probably some kind of garden bird -though I didn't see for sure, suggesting that perhaps it was the naturally elusive leopard.
And whilst my stupidity made me laugh for a second I did then consider that it wasn't so stupid to want to interact with the natural world even if I am in England. It is surely a good thing that my senses have been heightened by my experiences on safari and that there's no reason that they should become dulled again just because I am home. Though we take our own environment for granted (as familiarity breeds contempt) and though I will inevitably start to take it for granted in a matter of days if not hours, it was nice to have this brief moment of confusion where I still believed the world was worth observing. I mean when was the last time you really looked at a blackbird or a sparrow? Even if you are a bird spotter I bet you don't even dirty your binoculars by observing something so common. But sometimes it's worth having a look at that which you think you know and considering your attitudes towards it. I was pleased to be reminded of this, even though I didn't see what had caused the noise - A brontosaurus perhaps? In England, you clod? There's no way dinosaurs could hide around here. You are living in a fantasy world.
I won the first set, then got tired and lost the second.
