Reverb, 2011: Part 5.

Check out the first four Reverb 2011 posts here!


1. Where did you spend your time?
I spent a lot of time on a train in 2011. The train remain one of my favourite ways to travel, and even though it was too much too often, too expensive and too early or too much after a long day, there was something wonderfully soothing about being on a train. I often took along a book, and have read a number of amazing books thanks to the amount of train travelling I was doing (another thing that puts me off cars - you have to just drive). But my favourite thing was to sit and be. Every morning I would take up my regular seat in the front carriage on the 6:25 from York to Leeds, sitting in the first compartment with the disabled loo and the fold-down seats, and would sit and reflect for the 25 minutes until we got to Leeds. Sometimes there would be a full moon or a sunrise to enjoy, other times the countryside would be particularly beautiful. Occasionally I would be tempted by my book and forget the world completely. But there, on that morning train, I had the one real period of space for myself in the day, and it was wonderful, no matter how cold, tired or fed up I was.

2. What were your favourite songs?
I am not in touch with the current charts, to say the least, so my favourite songs tend to arise from periods of intented listening to old or new albums. Songs specifically would be too hard to pin-point, but there have been some wonderful musical moments this year. The Mountain Goats in the fantastic Brudenell Social Club, finally discovering Meursault, a new Fleet Foxes album, an old Midlake album. Music has not been as high up in my awareness as I would have liked this year, but  have continued to discover and re-discover, and that's always my musical priority,

3. Who did you miss?
I missed my good friends, who feel so spread our and so far away no matter where I am. How I wish we could all be in one place at once!

4. When did you take the easy way?
I took the easier option a bit more often later on in the year than I have done in ages. I let myself stop to sit and sip tea more often, and put on my pyjamas rather than my running shoes without getting hung-up about it. In all, though, I don't really take any easy options - does anyone? The effort put into even the smallest things brings the bigger reward, so from making my own pastry to running up the hardest side of the moor, I'm always eager to work a bit harder to get the satisfying mouthful or sunrise view that comes after it!

5. Where did you eat?
We've had some amazing food this year, both through home-cooking experiments and through trying out restaurants. There have been some amazing curries since our move closer to Bradford, (and more to come in 2012, for which I am already excited!), we had some wonderful local grub in Northumbria, including a meal that we walked 12 miles and risked hungry drunkenness for, and then there were the numerous meals in my favourite York restaurant, which we had occasion to visit a handful of times. Food has been excellent in 2011, and long may it continue!