The Rhondda Valleys

Morgan and I spent a lovely afternoon in Ynysangharad Park in Pontypridd today. The weather was lovely and we had a good game of football with a beach ball. The afternoon was only marginally spoiled, for me anyway by an old woman who came to talk to me for 30 minutes. Originating from Cardiff where no one ever stops to talk to you I still find the general chattiness of the valleys people a little disconcerting, mainly because I can never think of anything to say. It did however get me thinking about how different things are down this neck of the woods.

Having lived in Porth for nearly 2 years now I can honestly say that I have come to really love it here. Despite my difficulty in making idle chit- chat I love the sense of community here. The people are so much friendlier and while this sometimes makes popping out for a quick pint of milk take half an hour it is nice to live somewhere where you actually know your neighbours and the people who own the shop etc, especially if you spend all your time here as I do. The one bad thing about living in the valleys though is that you have to do everything on a hill e.g taking the baby out of the car, which I find to be a complete bitch anyway and almost impossible to do without banging his head on the car door frame! You can't go anywhere without having to go up at least two hills, while this is obviously good for the legs it leaves you totally exhausted ( especially when you're pushing 2 stone of toddler plus shopping!). I know what you're thinking, "get off your lazy ass and learn to drive then" and to be fair you're right. However some of you may remember that the last time I tried learning to drive I did infact crash into a tree (in my defence it was only a small tree).

God! I've just seen how much I've written so I will end my comparative study of the differing ways of life in Cardiff and the Rhondda valleys simply by saying, " I bloody loves it yer I do!"