Happy New Year from A Bimbler

A bimble

A bumbler is different to a bimbler.  The bimbler will have some sense of direction but like Ethan Hunt, if he knew where he was going he wouldn’t be on holiday. The bimbler will idle and enjoy the thrill of the new. A film seen twice or a book re-read is time wasted on a possible new experience so the bimbler seeks new tracks and revels in the unexpected.  There is a plan but the best road is the one least taken preferably at the last minute after a quick look at the map.

Some people are hedgehogs and know their world intimately, returning to old paths. When the need arises they will curl up into a defensive position using their spikes of knowledge to deflect the less worldly.  The fox lives by its wits and searches out new adventures.  The bimbler likes to think he is a fox but he lacks the cunning and hopefully the vicious bite and the snarling lip. Conflict is to be avoided and this is the primary rule, the route is the one of least resistance.

Maps are nectar to the bimbler. They open up the possibilities and hold the promise of new adventures. Weeks could be spent happily exploring one ordnance survey map, tracing each footpath and identifying points of interest.  But once the well has dried that's it! Time to move on. 

The problem is that a bimbler is not a completer. Things are started and plans are made, then abandoned…he takes lots of pictures, has lots of ideas and none will come to fruition. The bimbler's family will say that their favourite expression is they ‘cannot be arsed’ and ask if he suffers from inertia.  His defensive reactions will be made to avoid conflict and criticism. Which makes the writing of a blog about bumbling difficult as one has to put themselves out there and to indulge the slings and arrow of fortune, cast adrift at the mercy of the critics and the snipers.  But if you don’t do it you will never know. Can a bimbler write effectively enough to entertain an audience? Can they keep their attention until the bottom of the page?  In fact can they be arsed to write 'til the bottom of the page. A bimbler is plagued by doubts which often means they keep their thoughts to themselves which is not always a bad idea. But our doubts are traitors and should be overcome as they make us fear to attempt.

The bimbler does lots of things and none of them well. Car maintenance, house improvement, gardening is OK if it involves destruction.  This leads to unnecessary expense due to cack handedness. If he were a tradesman he would work for Bodget and Scarper. 

Bee-keeping is his ideal job as it makes him look like an expert when really the bees are doing all the work.  The basics were picked up along the way with a Grandfather with eighty years of knowledge.  A need to join the club backfired as the bimbler cannot commit. Clubs are not his thing.   The novelty wears off as the idea of waiting for everyone and doing what others want to do loses its appeal. After 30 years of trying to be a social human being it is time to bimble aimlessly.   

Anyway, the idea is that I bimble around and post for posterity.  Mainly wanderings in beautiful or interesting places much like the flaneur or psychogeographer the bumbler aspires to be. If he could only be arsed. 

TBC