Alex Murtough

Thunder and lightning are dangerous, kids. Scary and dangerous. Like Just like the bogey monster, but more electrical. An electrical bogey monster with a big thunderous voice.

Although I'm not sure where I was going with those sentences. Because there weren't any bogey monsters on Sunday morning. Nor thunder or lightning.

But there was talk of it (the thunder and lightning, not the bogey monster, there was no monster) as we were running under humid skies and against a weather forecast that said something along the lines of 'WATCH OUT FOR THE BIG SCARY STORM THIS AFTERNOON'.

Joining on Sunday's (red?) thunder run were GG Oxford's Jessica, GG Kingston's Rachel, and GG Greenwich's Steve.

And whilst taking our two loops of Hyde Park, Jessica introduced us to a PC game she used to play all about thunder and lightning. But my memory is bad and my Google searches all seem to lead to forum threads about whether it's safe to play video games in a storm. Which hasn't helped. If you're reading this, Jessica, let us know what the game was!

Our natters also extended to Taylor Swift (and how awesome she is), pickling, Holes (the wonderful book by Louis Sachar), Speaker's Corner, vaccines, PhDs, national identity, and much much more. Which meant it was a lovely and full morning.

As all of these mornings are - it's less about the running, it's always more about the people. Which, for me, is why GoodGym is so healthy and wonderful. Especially after the last year.

Thanks for a lovely morning, guys.

Nice one.

Thursday evening was hot. The type of hot where any movement makes you sweat. And where moving a fair bit makes you very sweaty.

Which was the state I was in when I arrived at the lovely More2Nurseries on Trafalgar Road. In normal weather, I'd have looked like I had a fever. Which would have made people run away. And in this weather, I think it was my smell that caused strangers to sidestep.

I was met by the wonderful GG Greenwich regular, Julian, and the lovely GG newcomer, Megan; welcome Megan!

And we got to our task at hand swiftly and surely. Which was cleaning chairs. The small chairs usually sat on by More2's young members. All chairs should have a clean now and again, and these needed one a little more, showing the products of fun days painting and creating.

Cleaning outside and shooting the breeze with Julian and Megan was just wonderful. We talked jobs, architecture, social housing, gentrification, and politics. And then the hour was up and safely filed into our memories. But not before a fleeting visit with More2's resident Giant African Snail, Sid!

A lovely evening well spent.

Nice one.

Since GoodGym Greenwich was set up in early 2016, we've made a few local friends. Friends whom we come back to help regularly. Some every few months and others at least once a year.

The wonderful Montessori school on Westcombe Hill in East Greenwich is one such friend. And they're a friend with friendly people.

I associate the lovely Wendy and Richard with Summer. It might be nostalgia, but I don't think it is. Because every memory of popping on over to their gorgeous setup seems soaked in sun. But then maybe that's because they're so welcoming. Smiles always brighten, don't they.

But we have had a bit of a hiatus from our visits to Westcome Hill. The last time we were there, it would have been Summer 2019. We spent that time gardening and running vines (with real life grapes) through trellis. Arriving today, their garden - which they use as a forest school - is lush and their vines are full; they're even thinking of making a spot of wine this year... GG Greenwich Christmas party anyone?

Today, good-deeders Brin, Jenny, Julian, Kerry, Linda, Mandi (welcome to GG Greenwich, Mandi!), Sara, and Steve got to a whole suite of tasks. Several of us tackled their entire exterior fence, varnishing it into weather-proofed hardiness; a few more of us varnished and stained a bench and table; and a couple of us fixed up a new sign for the school. And all in an hour whilst soaking up the evening and each other's stories.

Let's not leave it 2 years until we're back.

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Delays aren't good. They make you wait and sometimes you don't want to wait. And I have made this merry group of good-deeding peeps wait far too long for a report on their Herculean painting efforts.

Please forgive me, friends, life has gotten in the way. And please don't ask for my good deeds to be docked.

For I have wonderful things to report about Francis, Jenny, Julian, Laura, Michelle, and Steve (the brother), who turned a wall from tired grey to sparkling white.

Two weeks back, we scrubbed and rubbed away the wall's dirt and grime, and this task was about turning our clean canvas into something bright and hardy.

It's incredible to see what a group of GoodGymers can achieve in less than an hour. In 45 minutes, we'd gloved up, put out our ladders, painted, and tidied. And all under the watchful admiration of Charlton's steady stream of impressed commuters.

We're back at the end of the month to give this wall a second coat to protect it for the winter and years to come.

Thanks for coming, team, and for sharing your smiles and energy.

Nice one.