Ouch

There are one or two hazards to being not entirely sighted and bumping into things on a fairly frequent basis is one of them. I try to avoid such incidents as much as possible and having the old white stick certainly helps me to miss out on barked shins more often than I care to mention.

It's pretty good at sweeping small children out of the way, too. I've lost count of the number of times a small person has received a totally unjustified telling off from an embarrassed parent after I've narrowly missed tripping over them. A word to parents...the toddler can't be expected to know that the bloke marching towards them can't see properly so this is where your job as a parent comes in: you need to be aware at all times in public of where your offspring is and what they're doing. This will help prevent injury to both them and me and embarrassment to you.

Anyway, I didn't mean to rant about that. What I'm a bit cross about is hurting my bonce yesterday as I walked with Mrs The Millbrooker to Torpoint via St John. It's fair to assume that public footpaths will be kept reasonably clear for the use of, but the one from Penhale to St John has a low overhanging branch just by the gate into St John's Lane at the village end. So, precisely at the moment when Mr Partially Sighted here is having to direct his limited gaze at the ground and the gate, he smacks straight into the branch head on.

I'm sure there'll be a collective sigh of relief that the injury is a minor one...here's my grazed noggin as evidence, mercifully (I'm sure you'll agree) looking a tad less angry after a night's sleep and a good shower this morning.

So, if you happen to find yourself walking along that particular piece of the countryside's byways, don't forget to duck when you reach the St John end. And, yes, I am writing to the County to advise them that they need to do some chopping and clearing.

I'd also like to point out that it's not a bald spot, it's merely my brain growing through my hair as I get more and more intelligent each day.