Using my bicycle to get everywhere, as I did on Friday, reminds me of childhood. Feeling the rush of wind on the way to the train station, and the pull on my muscles as I ride along the riverbank. And then wrestling with the padlock to fix the bike to a rack… not paying for parking makes me smile :-)
On the South Bank in London, by the Hayward Gallery, they had made nightlights out of knickers! They were hung on wires, and floated above the walkway like chinese lanterns. The moroccan food at the market is beautiful, and the bridges and arches and steps by Waterloo so welcoming.
Drifting up Charing Cross Road into Soho, the streets were full of pubs overspilling and audiences inning and outing… and in the warm of a theatre, the comedy was immediate and friendly. To hear an old friend sing to an audience - a friend I hadn't seen for 33 years - was special. Nothing had changed in the time in between, except the years had drawn a few wise lines across our faces. We remembered old times for a while, and planned to meet again.
Coming home, after such a busy week, seemed a little lonely. But loneliness is not such a bad thing, if you can tolerate it. It reminds you what you feel like, and makes you welcome others with a bigger smile when you see them again. A little bike ride from the station, and then home, where the light on the phone signalled missed calls, and I sent love in my mind to each caller as I collapsed into bed, with October London drifting across my closing eyes and into my dreams.
