Was it all a dream?

Brendan and Mark have been threatening to take me caving for some time but it's only a few weeks since my pelvic scaffolding was surgically removed and so far too early to contemplate a return to the underworld.

Last weekend it was forecast to be a sunny, if a little cold, so I decided to mosey on down to South Wales for some gentle therapeutic walking.

Here I am strolling along minding my own business. After this my memories are very vague but I'll try to piece together what may have happened.

I seem to recall hearing a diesel vehicle, possibly a van approaching at great speed from behind.

Who are these two suspicious looking characters? They look like they might be up to no good. Could they be hatching a cunning plan?

After this everything went dark and it is as if the rest of the weekend has been wiped from my memory, but over the last couple of days I've kept having vivid dreams in which I'm caving again. It's all really rather distressing.







These dreams always seem to feature me in exposed locations and they invariably end with maniacal laughter. I know they are just dreams but they are so authentic they could easily be real.

In one particular dream I'm making my way along narrow ledges with nothing below me and only my crutches for support. I wake up in a cold sweat, but then a thought strikes me. Perhaps crutches are the ideal caving aid for those cavers who do not like traverses.

In another dream I'm falling down a deep hole, deep enough to cause massive injuries, (and I dread having to go back to hospital) but I'm saved from this by my crutch jamming across the hole.

And then my dreams get even more bizarre. Falling is a recurring theme. Falling, falling, falling ... forever falling.

A bit like this.











And then suddenly I'm in the company of Brendan and Mark. I've no idea where they came from. They wish me well and they say they hope I'll be caving again in the not too distant future. I thank them and they drive off.

A lost weekend!




THE VIDEO