Onwards
It’s been a year since my trip to Japan, and in that time I’ve had a few noteworthy journeys but always managed to procrastinate blogging about them. I might do a post at another time talking about various trips over the past twelve months - most memorably Alaska over summer solstice and a week in Nova Scotia after being gone for more than 30 years.
But today I’m sitting on the Eurostar heading from London to Paris. I arrived in the UK 4 days ago, flying into Heathrow and heading directly to Folkestone to visit some old friends.
We had beautiful weather for the whole weekend. I swam in the English Channel both Friday and Saturday, and took advantage of the little sauna set up by the beach to warm up afterwards. The water was almost the same temperature as the spot where I usually swim at Crissy Field- about 59 degrees. It was heavenly!
I spent Friday walking around Folkestone and then doing a sunset walk back to my friends’ house while they finished up work.
Then on Saturday we went to Margate, which I had never visited before. We had fish and chips and checked out the Sophie Calle exhibit at the Turner. This lopsided/doesnt-do-it-justice photo is of David Hockney’s “Sunley Window”, which we caught just in time.
The view from the higher floor does a better job of capturing the magic of seeing the sea behind the painted glass:
I have a few ‘must-do’s’ on my UK list that I always make time for when I visit: an egg & watercress sandwich from Marks&Spencer, lots of milky mugs of black tea, fish and chips with lots of malt vinegar, and lastly, going to M&S to shop for bras and underwear. We headed into Canterbury on Sunday for this last errand. I had been there before, but this time we took a beautiful walk along the river.
I was particularly struck by the weeping willows, which reminded me of the heffalumps from AA Milne, or Mr. Snuffleupagus On Sesame Street.
The best part of this whole weekend was the time I got to spend with old friends. I’ve known my friend Anne for nearly 35 years. We hadn’t seen each other since before the pandemic. I’ve thought a lot about these relationships that we form when we’re young, or at a totally different time in our lives, and how amazing it is to see each other and still feel like no time has passed. I’ve been so lucky in my life with the people that I’ve met and been able to hold on to. I wish I was better at capturing in words the way this picture felt in the moment.
