I'm in Marble Hill Park late in the afternoon, the dying rays of sun are bursting through the trees and halo-ing a little old lady who'd been shuffling slowly along the path whilst I've been meandering looking for fine specimens to capture, camera wise. She tucks into a packet of sandwiches she'd squirreled away in one of her bags whilst in front of her a kick-about is taking place.
So the winds have disappeared, the mornings are brighter and the evenings are clear and so much bone-chillingly colder. After all the weather and transport drama yesterday it was interesting to see the blue sky,the sun lower in the sky piercing from behind the railway bridge. As the train whooshed past the blinding sun was tempered and the silhouette of the bare tree was striking against the sky. When the train clatters past the sun bursts through sending glorious iridescent shooting stars on the waiting bus queue below.
It hurts your eyes but it’s also rather joyous. Despite the turn in the weather it’s still necessary to wear sunglasses. That can't be a bad thing!
I find myself half a dozen or so floors up at a client in Canary Wharf and sat by the window in one of their cafés trying to find a working power socket. I'm in dire need of charge for my hungry iPad before my next appointment, but to no avail. I can find sockets but they don't seem to want to charge anything, curses!
The buildings over the way catch my eye, there’s a few bursts of late afternoon sun as I spot the Millennium Dome (or are we supposed to say O2 Arena now?) playing peek-a-boo from behind the skyscrapers.
I recall the dome being built and visiting my customer in a building with a more unobstructed view of the proceedings (one Canada Square, the big pointy one) and he was regularly taking pictures of the dome emerging. I can't recall if he took daily pictures or weekly but he was planning to catalogue every stage, really just because he could.
I'm glad I visited the Dome in its original Millennium showcase mode. To be be frank the actual stuff inside wasn't amazing, it was huge, glossy (my favourite things were the display of diamonds (huge shock there!) and the Cirque du Soleil). There was too much branding from the various sponsors, a bit too ’style over content’ but I'm still glad I experienced it.
I visited only once and on leaving we thought we'd board the boat near the Gormley sculpture and return to the city via the Thames instead. It was a balmy day, with the bluest of skies. The Millennium Bridge had just opened and it was still the “wobbly bridge”, we cruised under it with masses of people waving and looking a little sea-sick (and that's on the bridge!) The boat docked by the London Eye so it seemed only appropriate we’d try that out for the first time too. The lovely day meant we could see for miles and miles and the recent guided boat trip meant we also knew some of the landmarks we were soaring over. It was a proper London unashamedly touristy day. Very happy memories!
A glorious day, I better not speak too loudly but summer might just be here. Marble Hill House Park is chock full of little vignettes.
There are couples stretched out on blankets on the grass sharing lazy stolen kisses. A group of dogs and children are chasing enthusiastically after balls. Two little boys are whooping with delight as their father catches them and tosses them up in the air one by one. Three young girls wearing pretty floral dresses, perhaps they've been to a birthday party, have carefully sat on a checked cloth their mother has spread out and they're now gathering buttercups and daisies.
Three woman are desperately trying to expose as much pale skin as possible to the the warming rays whilst sharing a punnet of strawberries and gossip. There’s a entire family playing a riotous game of cricket whilst children pedal furiously on tiny tricycles. There are impromptu picnics all over the grounds, and hearing the clink of glasses I wish I'd broken out one of my wicker hampers.
Above us all a seagull, clearly lost, is circling and gliding in the cornflower blue sky. A much awaited very British summer scene...finally!
Yay another sunny day and the building across the road from my office looks rather striking. Doesn't a bold blue sky make everything just seem better?
The novelty of the sun hasn't worn off yet, we waited for a long time for it to turn up, put its hat on and it still seems a little shy most days. Stood on the platform waiting for the train this morning, reaching for my sunglasses, I'm struck by how the sun reminds me of a child's picture. Certainly when I was little I would paint a blue line at the top of the page to illustrate the sky followed by a yellow ball with lines radiating from the glowing core for the sun. Maybe my camera has the artistic aptitude of a child, except the trees should be green clouds perched on stop of brown sticks. These look a little too real!
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