I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

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GOOD FRIDAY

I’m fast asleep in my little bed when all of a sudden I realise that the title tune from “Buffy” is playing. My first thought is, “how has the TV been turned on?” Then I realise it’s my mobile.

Being an early bird, my second thought is “who, in his right mind, is ringing me this early?” I look at the phone. It’s Jeremy. What could he possibly want at the crack of dawn?

“What?” I unceremoniously croak down the phone.

“Bohner.” says he in his ‘we are not going to discuss this, let alone argue about it’ voice. “I have decided that you and I are having lunch today.”

“You couldn’t have called me at a decent hour to invite me to lunch?”

“What is the matter with you? It’s ten o’clock. I will meet you at 11.30. GET UP!”

Whatever. Sometimes it’s easier to do what one is told than to argue. As I begin to burrow back into my covers, I have the following thoughts in rapid succession:

1. Wow, gallons of white wine is not a good idea.
2. I don’t have to go to work today.
3. Wow, gallons of white wine is a bad idea.
4. I am out of a job, so I don’t have to go to work again for a while.
5. Wow, gallons of white wine is a really awful, awful idea and I will never drink it again.

I look around my room and realise that it had been a great night out because the room (and, therefore, I can assume the flat) is in a state. You see, yesterday was the last day at my job. I have never been fired in my life, but now I have. I walked out of the office yesterday knowing that I would never have to walk back in there again as a full time employee. Mixed emotions to be sure, but overwhelmingly overwhelming.

I have amazing friends. Zarina, Rich and Kirsten went down to O2 Centre with me to watch the Eagles play. Now - if one has to be fired and face the first night of gainful unemployment, the best way to do it is to find great friends, drink passable wine and listen to the Eagles. They are one of my favourite bands of all time and the four of us had a wonderful evening watching them. Whenever the reality of my life hit me and I would shed a tear or two, there they were with a cuddle, a tissue and another glass of wine. OK - so maybe that last wasn’t such a good idea this morning, but it seemed a great idea last night.

But back to this morning and the consequences of the night before. Swearing off white wine forever, I managed to bring order to the chaos that was my flat, shower and get down to the coffee shop on time. I glared at my friend, daring him to speak to me until I had sipped my coffee. Knowing me as well as he does, he not only did not speak, but ordered the appropriate coffee and a juice as well. His star was rising. We had chosen this particular coffee place because they serve hot crossed buns - the traditional English food for Easter. Unfortunately, they were out so we settled for cinnamon croissants. I was beginning to believe that I would survive the day.

The weather report had been for an awful day but, as so often happens, the sun was shining. We decided to walk. We walked along the Regent Canal as far as Camden. What a great walk. The best part is that one walks right through the zoo. We were hoping to see the giraffes, but they were inside so we settled for the peacocks. Once at Camden, we decided that the only thing to do was to find a pub and have a bit of a sit down as we had some admin that we had to do. We walked into the Crown and Goose, a pub that Jeremy used to hang out in when he was younger. Wonderful, old working class pub where one can find great ale and a table to spread out the paperwork on. Sipping our beers (a bit of hair of the dog - note, however, that it was not white wine), we managed to get through what we had to get through with much less fuss than we had originally imagined. Seeing this as a good omen, we decided to walk again.

We strolled through Camden Market, laughing the entire time. One has to experience this to believe it. Loads of stalls selling everything imaginable - the best bit being the clothes. Back in the day, it is where the punks hung out and so they still congregate there. I often wonder - do they look in the mirror and think, ‘damn, I look good'? Once upon a time, it was a radical life choice. Now? It’s merely silly.

We decided to walk over to Primrose Hill to the Lansdowne, one of our favourite pubs. We managed to find a table and had a great lunch and a lot of it. Finally arising from the table, we decided that we needed to walk some more to work off the extra calories we had indulged in.

We walked up Primrose Hill - one of my favourite spots in London and one of the reasons I live in the neighbourhood I do. It’s a stiff climb (especially after chips and cauliflower cheese), but worth it at the top. The view today was incredible. We could see as far as the North Downs. At the top were about fifty people, all in fancy dress, hurling Easter eggs. Deciding we had missed the party of the day, we watched for a while. What a hoot. One has not lived if one has not seen a young Kiwi guy in a toga hurl an Easter egg.

Deciding it was time to head home, we walked down the hill into St. John’s Wood. Then, all hell broke loose. The skies darkened in about a second and a half, lightening started shooting down, thunder started booming and hail started falling. Now, I have lived here for nearly eight years and have never seen a storm like this. We were soaked in seconds. We decided to jump into the Duke of York to escape. And, if one is in a pub, one MUST have a drink, so we did.

OK - now it’s really time to go home. We decided we had walked this far, we may as well walk the rest of the way home. The storm had passed and the sun was out again. We got to our local and decided that one more drink was in order. We congratulated each other on a successful day. Our goal was a bit of exercise, a bit of food and getting the admin done. Three ticks.

After hot baths and a change of clothes, we decided that it was “grown-up” time. We rang round and managed to corral Mike, Sabi, Henry and Vere into joining us for the evening. We went around to Idelwild, a new local of ours that serves great food and proper cocktails. After a couple of drinks, we sat down to another wonderful meal with, can you believe it, white wine. Oh well, my resolve lasted at least twelve hours.

As I sat at that table and looked around at the other five, I realised how lucky I am - in spite of the recent setback. I live in the city of my choice and I’ve been here long enough that leaving my job does not force me to leave. I have wonderful, international friends (Sabi is Indian and Vere is from Zimbabwe) who love me and have supported me throughout the last month in ways too numerous to count. So, as I crawled into my little bed again, I gave thanks - for the first time in a month.

EASTER SATURDAY

What a difference 24 hours makes. I woke up at a normal time feeling human. The flat was not a disaster. The weather had turned - and how! A lovely combination of snow, sleet and rain was coming down and I could feel the drafts in my flat. Now, I have a high thermostat, but even I was freezing. This was not going to be an outdoors day.

As is the Saturday tradition, I met Jeremy for coffee. Today, at least, we were able to get our hot crossed buns, so it made the trip worthwhile. He left to drive to his parents. My original plan had been to go for a long walk, but I decided that the weather was just too vile. So, I settled for a bit of a shop in our local deli and headed home to see if the weather would change.

It didn’t, so I spent the day doing what every normal person does under the circumstances. I put on my warmest snugglies and wrapped up in the duvet to spend the afternoon with “Moulin Rouge” and the extras on the DVD. I may have dozed off once in a while, but it was a lovely afternoon.

Late in the afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised by a call from Eileen. I hadn’t spoken to her for a while, so we had a long chat just catching up. Eileen has always been the friend of mine who cuts through the crap and gets to the heart of the matter. I was telling her about my last month and how sad I had been. Her response? “Well, it seems to me that you are repeating your pattern. You work until there is nothing left of you. Then, you come to senses, take a year off and find yourself again. And, let me understand this, this time they’re going to pay you to do this? I would be jumping for joy!” I actually laughed out loud - again, for the first time in a month.

I had to get off the phone with her because I was meant to be meeting a friend. I called to say that I was going to be late and got the response that she had not left her flat either. We decided that the night was just too vile to go out and that we would get together soon. So, I snuggled back under the duvet with some goodies from my deli and spent the evening in Sunnydale. What? You don’t know where that is? For shame, but if you need a hint, go back to the ringtone on my mobile.

EASTER SUNDAY

This morning, I woke up to an actual snow storm. Not the horrible mix of yesterday, but real flakes of snow coming down. I was so excited. It NEVER snows here. Once, in eight years, has it snowed enough to stick and even then it had melted by the end of the afternoon. Several years ago, I had flown to Munich to spend the weekend with Matt. I had taken the coach into town from the airport and, as I got off, it was really snowing. I was so pleased to feel it that I just stood there enjoying it until Matt rang to ask me where I was. When I told him, there was stunned silence on the other end of the phone before he said, “Just get over here. There will be more tomorrow.” And there was. He and I went out to Dachau and as we stood in that silent, tragic place, the snow started falling. I remember walking across the main courtyard holding Matt’s hand and knowing that moment would stay with me forever.

I spent some time on the computer and then thought, “I really need to get out of this flat.” I managed to get dressed, out the door and about ten feet down the street before the reality of the weather set in. Not only was it no longer snowing, but it was hard sleet and the wind was blowing. Not being a masochist, I decided that this was just too much so I headed back inside.

I spent the day fussing around, eating good deli food and relaxing. It can be very difficult for me to sit still for long periods, but it has been nice this weekend to be forced to rest. I finally decided that I really wasn’t going anywhere, so I went to bed early with a good book - sheer bliss.

EASTER MONDAY

OK - enough is enough. More of the same with the weather. I have spent the last few hours doing personal admin, but am now bored with it. It’s too gross to go outside, so I guess I will update the blog, organise the photos and do other such things I never seem to be able to find the time to do. Jeremy will be home soon - I’m sure he will convince me to finally get out my front door!

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Photos

Snowy Easter Morning
The view out the back of my flat.

Snowy Easter Morning
You can actually see snow on the rooftops. It was there for all of an hour before the sleet started.