I never thought I would find myself in that condition, but that is what I said to myself today. Yesterday night I spent as a member of the voluntary staff at a temporary shelter for the homeless, run throughout the winter by local churches in Bradford.* For several months each year churches in Bradford provide this service, offering meals and beds to people who would otherwise spend the night on the streets. I’ve been on duty for two nights during this week, basically providing security and supervision. It is not a particularly strenuous task, but it does mean that I have seriously limited sleep while I am on the job.
I don’t know whether this is my age catching up with me these days, but I am really tired today, even though I did manage a couple of naps during the day. Around lunchtime I decided that it might be nice to make a little progress on a picture I started a few days ago, but had to lay aside for other obligations. I cleaned a palette and attempted to make an assessment of what might be the next stage, only to decide that really I lacked the energy to do anything at all. In fact, I went back to bed!
I learned two lessons from this. Painting is actually hard work. There is as lot to be said for going with the flow, as I doubt that had I pressed on I would have achieved anything worthwhile. Tomorrow is another day.
*The scheme, which has been running for many years now, is known as “Inn Churches”.