London Lives

Today is the loveliest day for ages; possibly more than a month. Brilliant sky and soft chilly breeze. Even though the snow looked lovely (and was here for seemingly ages), there were very few brilliant blue days.

Walking to the supermarket. Domestic stuff, not very exciting really. Coffee, rosemary, goat’s cheese and so on. It’s about 25 minutes or so away and there are others that are nearer. I could get the bus, but sometimes it’s good to trundle through the streets. Particularly today.

Today I take a different route on the way there, zig-zagging along the quiet afternoon streets. The bare trees are starkly outlined against the brilliant blue above, while the streets below lay in shadow. Planes slip idly across the horizon.

On the way home, I move along streets I’ve never walked along before. There are whole sets of lovely roads with sleek rows of old houses with white paintwork, glistening in the lowering sun.  Barely a soul around. A beautiful black Scottish Terrier passes, looking like a brush carefully sniffing its way along the path.

And home now, where a soft yellow glow is beginning to meet the brilliant blue. All over my flat, I find shards of sunlight in unexpected corners. Even at this hour, there is a sharp sliver of moon high in the winter sky.