Ramblings

Well the Solstice weekend has passed, and as I take it on myself to do the job of news watching, what comes out of the events both at Stonehenge and Avebury, is that they were peaceful affairs, 35,000 at Stonehenge and approximately 1000 at Avebury, though the rubbish left behind at Stonehenge was appalling. In both events Druids welcomed in the rising sun, and there was a festival spirit... tents tightly packed at Avebury, but everyone seems to have got in, a man was found dead in the graveyard causes unknown, but if it had been drugs there was a corresponding news item in one of the northern towns that three people had died from drugs that had other things added. The swifts nesting in West Kennet longbarrow were unpertubed by the arrival of so many and presumably went on looking after their young, a nice balance betwixt nature and humanity.

We had gone up to London on Sunday to have a sushi, for me a first time experience, a small Japanese restaurant with a tall round faced chef behind the counter at which we sat. In front, was the raw ingredients he would craft together to make the individual portions he would reach over and place on our wooden platters.. In front of us was squid, octopus, mackerel, salmon, bass and tuna, and probably a few more. It was a fascinating experience, a ginger pickle to clean the mouth and a white net of finely grated mouli.

London by night was also a new experience, the restaurant was under one of these expensive hotels, and when we had sat in the foyer waiting for our friends, people-watching (a favourite game of mine) was engrossing. A Jewish wedding party was taking place and the girls arrived in beautiful evening wear, but when we went through the courtyard, where many of the guests had been smoking and then throwing their stubs to the floor, I was rather horrified to see a maid sweeping the butts up with pan and brush. The rich can pay to have their rubbish cleared away pronto, but at Stonehenge something else was happening with the rubbish - laziness, an inability to clear up by the young and probably older people, it does somewhat prove that a discipline is lacking in peoples lives when they can't be bothered to clean up after themselves.

What else, a marvellous drive through London to our station, London on a Sunday night is fairly peaceful, the older buildings look imposing and very grand, opulence reeks on the street with sleek cars parked discreetly. Old pubs with people sitting outside, skyscraper office blocks, tall, tall buildings that make a statement, though what sort of statement, given Charles intervention with the Chelsea Barracks and the architects in a furore, heaven knows! Something that Bath is going through, with the proposed new development on the river, not to mention the equally large development at Southgate that has been going on the last few months.