I’ve reached that time of my life when I start conversations with the words, ‘I remember when,’ which tells me that, involuntarily, I’ve joined the Craft Club.
‘I remember when,’ is a phrase my grandfather started his sentences with, ‘I remember when I was your age…’ He would say, and I would wait, wide-eyed with anticipation, to hear what sparkling adventures he got up to when he was the age I was then.
It makes me laugh now because, sometimes, I can’t remember where I left my car keys five minutes ago. Yet I can tell you about the time I fell into a bed of stinging nettles aged about five. My big brother had told me umpteen times not to walk along a wall fringed by 4-foot grandfather stinging nettles. I blatantly ignored him, and he got all the blame for my stupidity.
So how come I can remember what my homework was when I was eleven and, having found my car keys, I can’t remember which floor of the multi-story car park I left it?
Decreased blood flow to the brain, apparently. I used to be able to stand on my head. Perhaps I should try again now, to precipitate a rush of blood to my brains.
This sad state of affairs is telling me that I have, unwittingly, joined the Craft Club.
I remember when… here we go … I heard about the Craft Club for the first time. I was enjoying earwigging a conversation between my late step-father and one of his oldest friends, telling him he had joined the Craft Club. I thought it was unlikely that someone as macho as my step-father would be signing up to master the art of crocheting. Or mashing up bits of paper with starch to make unidentifiable papier-mâché shapes. But, whatever club he had just joined, it was the source of much amusement.
Then, one of my gorgeous older friends, who always made quick work of the Times General Knowledge crossword, became frustrated when she started taking longer to finish it.
‘I know all the answers,’ she grumbled, ‘I just can’t remember them.’
If you don’t know already know, you will have worked out that the Craft in Craft Club, stands for Can’t Remember an F-ing Thing Club.
I’m off to see if I can remember how to stand on my head, failing that I’m going to improvise and hang upside down in a chair… possibly.
Exercise helps, so I will be stepping up my exercise regime with immediate effect, although perhaps not today.
Taking vitamins A, B, and Iron supplements are also part of my plan, as well as drinking more. No, not my usual Pinot Grigio grape juice , but delicious aqua pura, AKA H2O. Cheers.
