My first impression: the hand of catastrophe slapped us, and we are its remnants. It’s 11am. Where are the people? Bond Street is nearly empty. A man is laughing with his girl friend, must be a girl friend, their limbs are entangled like ivy. He’s strapped into a backpack with words LONDON in bold letters. Free, I’m free to walk at pace, no doddering tourists or window shoppers to slow me down. Or pick-pockets. It’s one of those days that I don’t feel my age, don’t feel my hip grind, don’t feel out of breath, and I don’t feel like going to the dentist just because a filling fell out.
A flock of birds
Two years adrift on the Thames
A swarm of flies
Process notes: I was in London yesterday (yes, the dentist), and I was astonished how the city’s changed. Even at rush hour, I had a seat on the District Line. London is greyer than usual. Littered. Unkempt. But the lack of people highlights the grubbiness. Covid. Brexit. Wars. Wars to start wars. The world feels violated at the moment, and I’m finding cheerfulness an unexpected effort.
Written for Stream of Consciousness Saturday #SOCS, today’s word is “trip”. Photos are my own, taken yesterday from Blackfriars. iPhone – don’t need a camera anymore. ©Misky 2022 Shared with #amwriting on Twitter
It's Still Life 
12 responses to “12.03.22 #SOCS Trip”
I worked for Bank of New York for a while at Blackfriars. Used to love that cycle from Waterloo, along the South Bank. Probably 8 years since I went up.
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I love the walk from The Chop House, through the market, up to The Globe and then over the bridge. It always made me feel alive. Especially the market. But it didn’t feel alive yesterday. It felt completely out of synch.
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Did you ever get into the City on a Sunday? Totally dead. I prefer Paris for that reason – people live absolutely everywhere, even in the streets off the Champs Elysees.
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Lots of times. We lived near Aldgate in the early 2000s. Sundays: no people, and everything closed. Nowadays, shops and restaurants along the Thames (and the Market) are open. That wasn’t the case 20-years ago. Remember back when supermarkets were allowed to open on Sundays. That was huge! 😂
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I used to put big value in coming back out here every night, I must admit.
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By both choice and by necessity, I also don’t get out much anymore, and when I do, I often feel like I’m touring foreign turf.
You nailed this, Misky.
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Thanks, Ron.
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This is all a bit surreal. A seat – on a train – in London; come on Misky, how gullible do you think we readers are.
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Lots of empty seats everywhere on both the District and Jubilee Line. Just weird.
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Very!
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Wonderfully evocative. And great photos!
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Thanks ‼️
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