THE OTHER SIDE OF WONDERLAND

The buzz is all around the soapbox survivors today. Apparently, they had an uneventful trip, missing most of the obstacles and smashing into a hay bail at the finish line - all to the roar of 20,000 spectators.

And well done them!

Meanwhile, back on the other side of Wonderland, I had a fairly uneventful day myself yesterday, watching the rain.

It hadn't rained for a while round these parts so it was nice to hear it scatter off the conservatory roof and drip mellifluously from the porch. As always, it's the natural harmonies - the dripping rhythms and the delicate patter of raindrops that get me. Like physics it seems, music is everywhere too.

I went out in it. I did. I grabbed my umbrella, waved at the Intrepids and said, "I'm just going for a walk."

"In the rain?" said my Mum.

"In the rain," I replied.

"Take a brolly," said my Dad. I waved it at him and he looked up over his Sudoku book, his eyes peering at me above his reading glasses. Words aren't always necessary.

I genuinely don't know how to make the most of a weekend. It's either packed full of stuff and goes way too quickly, or it aches out, one long and boring hour after the next. Most weeks of course, Sunday disappears into church, especially when I'm playing - I'm there longer than a working day. Yesterday though, was my week off and I left quite quietly after the first service.

Saturdays too are filled with the potential to drive me crazy. That's partly why my Mum and I ended up at the top of Streatley Hill enjoying the sunshine. I need fresh air on a Saturday or I get very cranky indeed.

So how do you do it? How do you get the most from a weekend without it shooting past like the Flying Scotsman? What are the things that make a weekend tick?

I think I have a fear of boredom. Tediophobia or something (I made that up) - a kind of terrible crushing feeling when everything is the same as it's always been and doesn't look like it's going to change. I need adventure, I need fun: new projects, art, science, music, things to learn, things to enjoy, things to think about, to write about and then go on too long about. I need thunderstorms and rain clouds followed by brilliant sunshine and a warm sea breeze. I need snowfall and starlight and early mornings and balmy evenings. I need adventure. I need anything other than the same-old same-olds.

Maybe that's why I'm sitting here in quiet admiration of the daring mechanical rabbit soapbox team. Just once, I'd like to be brave enough to do something like that.

So long as it's on a weekend.