Features and blogging

Mum and the infamous tomato soup coloured lada

Two pop facts about me: one, I’m Gemini; and two, I don’t drive.
We’re mercurial, us Geminis – shape-shifting, fact-switching, speed-loving multi-taskers going full tilt and doing everything at 100 miles an hour.
People say we talk too fast (guilty) and switch topics rapidly (guilty). People think we’re two-faced but it’s not that, it’s just that we can see both sides to a story, and we’ve got all the way round to the alternative point of view before the other person has started to process the topic.
That’s not always a superpower, it can be detrimental. And it doesn’t mean we’re uber clever (but I’ll take a nice testimonial, thank you). Still, though: what stop sign?
Back to driving (off-topic already), I’ve never understood why I don’t drive even though I passed my test back in 1993. Mum taught me at the airfield in Cornwall, overseeing my gear-shifts along right-angle tarmac ribbons in our old VW beetle, then in a bright orange lada that would go on to become my sister’s (with blue and pink flames painted up the side, but that’s another story).
Mum was a good teacher and quite fast herself. ’You’re speedy,’ she’d say, ‘but you’re good.’
Is this the key to why I stopped as soon as I started? Did I quit driving because I knew I’d scare myself? Was it a note to myself to slow down?
Of course this translates directly to work, and life, especially as Autumn cuts a thrust through everything. And Autumn does love a firecracker, doesn’t it? Whether or not we have school-age kids, or any kids for that matter, businesses up and down the country adopt a ‘back to school’ mentality at this time of year, everyone revving to go after the long sleepy summer. The brisk months of September and October are about keeping up however we possibly can.
In most cases, because I’m speedy, that’s fine; due to the above-mentioned personality traits I’m good at spinning plates. But the older I get the harder it is to keep them going. And with Unlockdown pinging the bell every five seconds (my diary looks like my son’s A-Level algebra notes), life’s pretty fast even for my liking.
Today, a Friday, I threw on joggers, hoodie and trainers because I had a very early call, then spent the morning working online with a team, then had to transcribe and write a blog, then had to go for a run (currently training for 21k, more plate-spinning), so had to be ready to go whenever I could, and that turned out to be 2pm, so I was up a high hill by 2:30pm and back at the desk answering more team emails by 3:30pm. Ex-haus-ting.
All a far cry from June, when tumbleweeds blew across my work schedule to the point where I was forced to take two weeks off (OK, cajoled by Mr Fairy who just so happened to be on a tiny sabbatical himself). It turned out to be the longest break we had together all year, very timely. Have to say, though, I do prefer life when it’s busy.
At least with Autumn being bonkers I sleep well, although my dreams are packed with mad Gemini stories. This week alone I’ve had a job interview up a steep hill during a sponsored walk; tried and failed to counsel a friend while abseiling; and attempted to outrun a storm on a strange island.
Probably a good job I don’t drive, actually.