Ancient drivers.

I managed to get through most of my plans yesterday. and as I was in the next village I called in to see a very old friend. She is ten years older than me and those years really do count. Mentally she is as bright as a button still. We laugh a lot when we are together but yesterday was a little different. She has given up her car. This must have been welcomed by everyone living close by but for her it was the end of freedom. To be able to drive where ever you want is a wonderful gift only fully realised when you can’t do it any more. Living in a town it’s fairly easy to ring for a taxi....but here it’s not. One taxi covering several small villages is often not able to turn up when required. So we rely upon each other....and this mostly works until more than one of us has given up driving. I am not yet in that position but I know that at some stage it will happen, if I live that long! People here are wonderful in hard times...we help each other out all the time... As there is only one local taxi between several villages the driver must be hard pushed to keep up! But mostly we all help each other out. Doctors appointments take first place...but getting to any other appointments can be difficult. Especially it would seem getting to church. Ahem! Picking people up on my way has been a factor for years and is one of the reasons why I don’t go as often as I might! I realise that most of my blog posts are covering the same subject for which I apologise. But survival has suddenly become complicated...driving around this beautiful peninsula is a joy during the quiet months...but once the visitors arrive we all tend to stay put...and keep out of their way if possible. My old friend now realises that without the help of friends and neighbours she would become housebound. But that I have assured her is better than driving dangerously. I just have to call in more often..as do we all. So don’t get old....it has hidden problems!