online: 14 august 2009 modified: 13, 14, 15 august 2009 13 august 2009 return to the present
on the heath and in the city
...sitting here this evening overlooking a field surrounded by tall trees, mostly oaks and beeches... i see two rabbits and a crow on the grass and a jay flying over it... also some bloodthirsty mosquitos dancing about my head and my fingers... then i hear soft footsteps approaching... it's a tall woman in running clothes... and suddenly two fast-moving dogs cross the field and disappear into the forest... (i saw them earlier in a different forest) i think they are Lurchers, a rough-looking cross breed from Ireland that i particularly like...
...now two couples emerge simultaneously from the trees and walk across the playing field several metres apart... and now the field is empty again except for me and the mosquitos... this is life, is it not, write the fingers... (and yes, the brain is aware of having already written that remark a few days ago, 7 august 2009)...
...now sitting on the last of the seats round the tumulus... in near silence...
beneath the pale blue sky, already darkening, are lines of grey clouds visibly moving towards the north east... a woman with small dogs whom i often see on the heath walks by, pausing to remark on the weather... the oak trees before me are rapidly darkening and i can imagine them to be an advancing tide of giant vegetation (which is what i suppose they are if seen over decades or centuries)...
...and, as a last observation from this spot this evening, i look round at the grasses, now resembling a tide of yellowish water... but the reality (the actual grass) is more ordinary and more interesting than is this illusion...
...as i emerge from the dark wood there is the astonishing sight of the city with all it's lights on, red lights on the tall buildings and amber or bluish lights on the others... no wind, but a buzz of many conversations from about a dozen groups of two or three people chatting while looking at the city... at this view from without of the places where we live...
...a man appears, throwing his hands in the air and talking loudly and continuously to everyone... to which no one responds... i walk away discreetly, not wishing to encounter directly so different a person... but regretting my fear...
in a bus:
noticing how smoothly the bus is moving i thank the driver - he looks very pleased... but would i complain to one who drives roughly?... no... but i might suggest to the transport company that they fit accellerometers or otherwise discourage rough driving... for i think it's time we all (and not only paid employees) were made responsible for public services and were given means to encourage or to inhibit good or bad performance... (a small step towards what i call creative democracy)
in another bus:
a man standing on the stairway is talking to everyone as he rolls a cigarette... he's talking of political disillusions... "if met Tony Blair i might attack him... and probably get ten years for it... perhaps it would be worth it"... he looks around and smiles... someone leaves and i move over for the talking man to sit down but he prefers to stand... and on his way out he taps my shoulder in a friendly way... he does not seem mad, but indignant!
for comfortable line length set the window to about two-thirds of the screen width
You may transmit this text to anyone for any non-commercial
purpose if you include the copyright line and this notice and if you
respect the copyright of quotations.
If you wish to reproduce any of this text commercially please
send a copyright permission request to jcj 'at' publicwriting.net
(replace 'at' and spaces by the @ sign)
