“An Excellent Day for Reverse-Faffing”
There was a freezing gale by the lakeside, and Andy and Chris declared that reverse-faffing was in order: swim first, faff later, in the pub. It was a fair point. And so, in less time than it takes an idle gawper to shout down from above: “Is it cold in there?”, they were in, and swimming!
We did our best, Hilary and I. We agreed upon the principle of an immediate swim. We exchanged the barest minimum commentary on the weather, the temperature, local gossip, and the fact that it would be highly unusual to swim right away, and we were in the water almost before Andy and Chris had finished swimming. The swim was brief: the water was splendidly clear that day, but somewhat too enthusiastic.
Once out, we dressed with almost indecent efficiency, while the chaps did a valiant job of not looking impatient, and a somewhat less successful impression of not looking cold: they’d swum rather further than we had.
And thence to the pub.
Except… it did not happen that way: we’d covered only half the distance to The Salty when Stella arrived, and Hilary and I pulled off a spectacular True Reverse-Faff. We went back down to the lake and spent a considerable time delaying Stella’s swim with idle chatter and amusing attempts to drink coffee in a howling gale.
Pub-based faffing is a separate activity, and is therefore not a true reverse-faff.
We eventually found Chris and Andy in the pub, at our customary table beside the Radiator of Delight.
WaterDrawn 