On being sensible

I'm hurting today. I'm jealous of everybody who went to All Points East and saw Patti Smith, Nick Cave, and Courtney Barnett yesterday. It was AMAZING, I'm sure. I mean, if you went - I'm happy for you. Genuinely...

A good few weeks ago, Jo and I saw the line-up advertised in the Guardian and with a frenetic grabbing of phones we both went on the festival website and looked at the tickets. "Let's do it!" we cried. "NICK CAAAVE" I probably shouted. 

Then we said "Hang on a minute, let's think about this..." and that my friends is when the sensible kicked in. We thought about money. We're having lots done to our garden at the moment (our big DIY project this year) and let me tell you, timber and plants don't cost buttons you know. We've also just booked a little break in Dorset, and even with the cute-as-hell 'Two Together' railcard we have, that wasn't cheap either. So we decided not to go. We started to feel like Rachel, Phoebe and Joey when the rich Friends went to see the Hootie and the Blowfish concert they couldn't afford and they were stuck at home guessing how many fingers Joey was holding up behind his back. 

HOWEVER. All was not lost. This was not a 'guessing Joey's fingers' scenario. There have been tons of festivals I've missed out on because I couldn't always justify the price tag, and that's okay. If we'd have gone it wouldn't have just been the gig tickets but train tickets, beers, and food etc too, we'd have been a couple of hundred quid down, and frankly at the moment, that's money we could be saving AND spending on our garden which I know we'll get a lot out of. I mean, we have a Pinterest wishboard of plants we want to buy after seeing them on the Chelsea Flower Show. 

If this all sounds very dour and you're thinking "Seize the moment! To hell with the consequences!" then I'm enjoying your YOLO approach to life, but believe me I've had plenty of YOLO moments. Impromptu dinners out before payday that were rash, but needed. Rounds of drinks paid with one eye shut as I handed my card over thinking "There'd better be enough on there..." An expensive bit of furniture that is definitely more beautiful than useful, etc etc. 

But in fact, we had a gorgeous "home day" instead of being in Victoria Park swaying to Where the Wild Roses Grow. I finally weeded the front garden. We sat outside in the beautiful sunshine, willing robins to eat from the new bird feeder I bought. We had a beer and read our books and it was the most chilled out day. Jo had a bad fall last week after slipping on wet concrete (in that crazy monsoon rain we had) and cracked her elbow badly, and we'd said to each other how scared we would have been of people bashing into it if we'd gone to the gig, and she needed to rest. So sometimes, being Captain Sensible is just the thing. Patti and Nick and Courtney will play again and we can seize that day instead. Now where's that Pinterest wishboard...

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