The Past Two Weeks

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One of my New Year’s resolutions was to take more single days off to do fun things in London. I figured that fifteen days into the new year was a good time to start, so I took the day off to go to the Boat Show. Wow - but this was my idea of heaven. Sailboats as far as the eye could see. Some small, some huge. I arrived at 10.00 and left at 6.00 and spent the time in between looking at boats and just dreaming. I went with my mate Jason and he and I had so much fun. We took the occasional refreshment break, but mostly just walked and dreamed of someday owning one of these gorgeous creatures. In addition to the boats, there were stalls that sold everything you can think of that had anything to do with boats, one of which was sweaters. Well, I gave into temptation and bought two. What a perfect day - boats and new sweaters. It doesn’t get much better than that!

The next evening, I went to see “Swan Lake” with my friend Sarah at ENO. Say what you will about ballet, this one is pure magic. A fairy tale that no matter how many times I see it, I simply lose myself in. This production was no exception. The last two acts were among the best dance I have ever seen and, let’s face it, our friend Pytor can certainly pen a tune. Even it you don’t know the ballet, you know the music. There was a tiny boy sitting right in front of us who was absolutely transfixed. His mum bought him an ice cream at the interval, which only increased the joy of the experience. As tired as he was at the end, he announced that “ballet is AWESOME!” Those of us who could hear him completely agreed with him.

Then, all hell broke loose. For those of you who do not live in the UK, you may not heard of our nanovirus. It has swept through the country -- at last count, over 3 million people have been diagnosed with it, and that's just the people who bother going to see their doctor. They estimate that it is really closer to double or triple that number. It is so contagious, that it has shut schools and even hospital wards. It is great joy. Starts with a tummy bug and then transforms into a standard flu -- fever, aches, sore throat. Well, it hit my company and we all came down with it. Last Tuesday, 70% of my company was out of the office. As someone told me who was in that day, it was like the week between Christmas and New Year. No one was in the office and no one was in the City. Very eerie. The good news is that once one has had it, one is immune. I kept focused on that silver lining while I was prone on my couch wishing for it all to just go away.

I was meant to be away this weekend, but decided that a quiet time at home was the better option. And, I was rewarded for my good sense by the most spectacular sunset I have ever seen in London. I hope the photo gives you a sense of how beautiful it was. The view is off the balcony at the back of my flat. And the tree? Well, that's my tree -- or at least I call it that. I mark time by this tree. As you can see, now it is devoid of leaves. In the spring, it is covered in buds and then, sometimes overnight, it is covered in leaves. In the autumn, the leaves turn different colours and fall onto my balcony. I just love this tree. If I remember, I will take photos of it throughout the year so you can see it.

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Photos

Sunset
My view and my tree.