It’s days like today I’m really glad of a keyboard & an outlet.
I feel very odd & adrift.
I braved Kingston town centre a little while ago & it was like an out of body experience. Everyone seemed to be happy, rushing, chatting & preparing. I felt like the ghost of Christmas past watching from the sidelines.
It’s not often I think it, let alone admit it, but I could have used some company today.
I have turned up the heating, assumed the foetal position & sought sanctuary in my room with a cup of scalding tea & Gardener’s Question Time. It’s the radio equivalent of comfort food.
Can anyone explain the conversation I overheard between the assistants at Woolworth’s today ?
‘Here Ang – what have you bought Mark for Christmas ?’
‘Animals’
At this point my ears pricked up …
‘I thought he had it already ?’
‘No – this is the new one’
I am completely bemused.
I went to see Bill today to collect some of my boxes from storage.
Entering his house with a hangover would not be possible. Amazing how all kids toys are primary colours isn’t it ? He has transported THE TV that he acquired in NZ over here. ‘CBeebies’ spread over 53” is not easily ignored. .
‘Oh - Wallington UCI ?’ one of his recent guests observed dryly.
‘The TV doesn’t dominate the room though does it ?’ Bill asked.
‘Would you like me to answer no ?’ I replied.
He & his family are renting short-term in Wallington, having returned from NZ a couple of months ago.
I was introduced to Emily, the latest in the Lawrence litter. Bill thought we had already been introduced but I pointed out that when I last saw Linda, Emily was still under construction. Just like Matthew & William she is a very calm, happy & good-looking small person. I have decided Bill puts Prozac in their cereal. It’s just not normal.
Bill doesn’t know it yet, but if ever William decides he’s had enough of his folks, I would take him. There is something totally absorbing about William, I could look at him all day. He has a self-contained aura about him which totally belies his years. I can’t wait til he’s old enough to explain what he did in a former life.
En route to & from the storage unit, we chattered, talking over each other & catching up on each other’s news & said goodbye too soon.
We gazed at the grey, rain-lashed sky as we left his house & I informed him that it had snowed in Blenheim (NZ) on Saturday. I thought he might like to know.
It took me 25 minutes to get to Bill’s today & 50 minutes to return. For no reason that ever became apparent, we just sat & queued at Kingston bypass. I knew that Bill couldn’t have blocked off the road ahead as I’d just left him off-duty. Tuning into the local radio station I was cheerfully informed that
‘Traffic is queuing at the Kingston bypass’
N.S.S. Thanks for the info.
I sat immobile for long minutes in Henry, forced to observe at close-quarters my grimy, ugly surroundings & feeling impossibly hard done by. Ahead of me was the looming monstrosity that is Tolworth Tower. To my right, 2-storey dwellings which are routinely burgled. To my left, a graffiti-strewn railway bridge. In front of the bridge, ‘Lucie’s Café’ a rancid little caravan selling ‘tea’s’. No no no no no - ‘Teas’ plural you stupid woman.
I don’t suppose a single person who drinks tea there even notices.
I felt like Michael Douglas in Falling Down & cast about me searching in vain for something of natural beauty, anywhere.
Air-breathing mammal, underwater.
To cheer myself up, I’m going to share pictures from the night of
Bourbons & latex
Cx :(
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