Ahem
Just before the beginning of the month I flew to Malaga from where I took a bus to Marbella. I put my small but heavy bag into a property deposit box at the bus station before walking slowly down towards the Mediterranean coast, glittering under a perfect blue sky. I was excited but apprehensive at the prospect of the next two weeks. I found a restaurant (La Tirana) and sat down to a glass of red wine and grilled prawns. I sat in the garden and admired the Andalusian fountain, the strong colours of the manicured lawn, bushes and flowers in their spring bloom with their deep blue cloudless background. It was calm. Muy sereno. It was also the last proper meal I would eat for two weeks because I was waiting to check into my room at the Buchinger Wilhelmi Clinic, where I was to undergo the clinic’s exacting fasting programme.
My first day at the clinic felt like being at a new school. Staff were welcoming and efficient. I was allocated my room, keys, lanyard, lots of reading matter and forms to fill. I was shown the gym, gardens, tennis court, the ‘House of Inspiration’, lecture rooms, library, and swimming pool. Doctors, matrons, and nurses were available. I had a blood test and signed on for various treatments and exercises, and a daily check-up with the nurse. There was a long red cord in my bathroom for an emergency.
The vegetable soups, herb teas, and fruit juices I was given throughout the fortnight were all delicious. That was a relief because this was all I consumed for ten consecutive liquid days, as well as over two litres of water and six cups of herb tea a day. I enjoyed every liquid meal I had. Almost from the beginning, my body and mind both seemed to improve as if they knew exactly where they were and what the challenge was. My senses gradually became more aware and focused and after the fifth day I noticed some real physical improvements.
The diversions all seemed fascinating. Most mornings I went for a half-hour walk by the beach which sometimes included a session of Qi Gong Tai Chi. I enjoyed a daily glass of freshly pressed lemon juice. There were evening films, talks, flamenco shows, and live music recitals. I hiked for nearly two hours on the Puerta Verde trail in the hills above the town, and I inspected the recently discovered prehistoric necropolis of the Corominas dolmens, dating back to 3000 BCE. I started reading the FT again.
It is amazing (for me at least) to state that practically from start to finish of the 14-day visit I experienced neither hunger pangs nor missed alcohol. In the ten days of the fast I neither consumed nor produced any solids and had perfect blood pressure and pulse (without my medication) every morning. The first day and the last four days featured dishes designed for the adaptation first to fasting and then the readaptation to eating. I lost weight steadily throughout, finishing 7 kilos lighter than when I started.
Back in the real world, my mission was clear, to maintain my lower weight and keep the downward momentum going. I settled for an ordinary but strict diet, which is working so far. My weight is falling slowly, but my blood pressure went up as soon as I touched down in Gatwick. The big challenge, according to the clinic, comes not when you start the fast but when you finish it. Wise words.
I came back home with the clinic’s recipe book to a blooming garden and a sun-burnished wife. The weather in England had been as good as the weather in Marbella had been cloudy, cool, and even occasionally rainy. However, as soon as I arrived, the weather turned English again.
Jessie, Jurrat, and Jaxon came over to Uckfield a few days later. Jessie and I went to the Uckfield Picture House see a new film Coastal, featuring a 2022 tour by Neil Young of the US west coast. I found it compelling, although I agreed with Jessie that the camerawork and continuity were unhelpful. I also agreed with a review that the film did not fully convey the imagination, creativity and musicality of the sheer genius that is Neil Young, apart from an electrifying but “unplugged” version of I’m the Ocean at the very beginning. Jaxon stayed with us that night, and J2 picked him up the next day after seeing friends in London.
The spring woods started to get interesting with oceans of wild garlic giving way hurriedly to bullying bluebells. On Easter Sunday we all went to Burgess Hill to have brunch with Ella and Sam at their house. Then we all went on to an adult Easter egg hunt, expertly laid by temporary Easter Bunny Jurrat in the garden of Broad Oaks. The following day we went for a jolly buffet lunch with Ella’s parents-in-law, Peter and Lynn, at their spacious flat in Hove.
I spent the final week of the month undertaking an unexpectedly large and sudden amount of freelance editing. We welcomed our friends Brian and Mary for a leisurely lunch. We spent a weekend at the eternally hospitable hearth of Fionnuala, Andrew, and Orla, still camping out in Aldershot and hoping for a soft landing in the house they have now purchased in a pretty Guildford suburb. I became acquainted for the first time with Guildford’s seriously historic centre. I should not have been mildly surprised to hear that Guildford is mentioned in the Domesday Book, since its castle was probably the first of the Conqueror’s Norman settlements. I also prepared for my visit to our house La Hune in the Tarn et Garonne of France and an inspection, with J2 and their friends, of the renovations to the bathrooms undertaken in the past few weeks and other innovations in readiness for the season’s guests. On my way back, I am especially looking forward to meeting old friends in Leymen and Basel.
Yours cutting the lemons,
Lionel
