We’ve just come to the end of a bank holiday weekend where the sun shone for most of the time. It’s amazing how the sun lifts the spirits and makes even the mundane things, like going shopping, weeding the garden and clearing the patio, pleasurable.

View of the sky through the glass roof of my car

I decided to go to Cannon Hill Park on Saturday afternoon, forgetting that the world, his wife and all their children would be there. There was nowhere to park, so I drove to Winterbourne Gardens instead and got their last parking space.

The spot was so beautiful I decided to stay in the car. My car has a glass roof so I could lie on my back and look up at the sky. As I happened to have one of my meditation CDs with me I took the opportunity to do a meditation. With the windows down and the tweeting of the birds loud and clear it was just like meditating outdoors (but without the inquisitive insects).

And then I read a few chapters of Robert Rankin’s The Dance of The Voodoo Handbag and laughed so loudly in places I had to wind the windows up in case passers-by thought me crazy.

It was lovely to stop thinking about spiritual things or writing and just lose myself in a good comedy book. That too lightens the spirit.