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Showing posts from July, 2009

Perfect evening

London turns into a big party every Friday night, but especially tonight. The sky is cloudless, the sun bright, the air soft and warm, cleaned by a week of rain. Those who had gone into work bundled against a gray chill somehow change during the day, as the streets jostle with people in shorts and sleeveless blouses. A lot of them smile. Green Park is full. There's a fountain there consisting of a pair of triangular pieces, the water coursing down one face of each. I've never seen it on. Today there are kids splashing in it. Every one of the folding green chairs is occupied. The guy who goes around collecting the money must be busy! People are walking a bit slower than normal. Three guys who came chattering out of a store cross against a light. The taxis don't run them down. One of them honks, but it is the only discordant sound around. I see three Ferraris as I walk up Bond Street. The drivers all look about the same - in their 30s or 40s, fashionable t-shirts

The big yellow orb is in the sky

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I am frightened, and eerily drawn to it. - Ava email to me

The Queen can often be seen riding her horse in Hyde Park on Sunday afternoons

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He is a spirited but kind beast.

There are two things ...

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... that London has a lot of. Parks and rain. These are not mutually exclusive, and that's important to remember as one slogs through a wet July that it is the rain that makes the parks so incredible. Ava and the kids regularly schedule "Park days" while I'm at work. They make a picnic and go to Regents Park and eat, read, play, and dodge raindrops. On Wednesday, three out of four wasn't bad: there were too many raindrops to dodge. Will: It had been raining most of the day but then it stopped so we decided to go to Regents Park. When we got there the playground was crowded with kids, which annoys me to no end. But luckily for me, it started to pour. Andie: It started to pour! Da da da daaa ... Will: When it started to pour, the moms pulled all the kids into the little house thingamajiggy ... Ava: It's called a gazebo, Will. I'm going to put that on your spelling test! Will: Mom! OK, me, on the other hand, I kicked off my shoes, took off my j

This little Andie went to market ...

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Andie and the Pieminister, who made our dinner. "I think I like the purple one." The market is very, very, very fun, and there is a nice lady named Anne who sells cakes. Today we went to Paddington Secret Garden, which is the small park right next to our house, waiting for the market to open. It was kind of a cloudy day, and at the market we bought a tart and English meat pies. The jam lady wasn't there but there was a jam man who had delicious jam. We eat a jar a week, so today we got strawberry jam. The last thing we bought was lavendar to put in our apartment, and there was a big bumblebee on it who just wouldn't go away. After we shooed him away he found us again, so we carried him all the way to the apartment (which isn't very far!) Then we shooed him away again. The market is really fun. It's one of our favorite things to do. We do it every Sunday morning. - Andie "Mind if I hitch a ride? My name is Bumble."

Dancing for Albert (and other tourist tales)

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It is amazing how, in the middle of this large and populous city, the parks can be deserted. After dinner Friday evening the kids and I took our new football (a soccer ball, really, but we are trying to assimilate) to Regents Park, where we practically had the place to ourselves. We booted the ball great distances over the slick pitch (see? assimilating ...) and ended up in a grove of dense trees. The rain had stopped but the wind was now brisk, and every few minutes it rattled the branches and leaves overhead and caused a new downpour of large drops to splat upon us. The kids fashioned bats out of branches that had fallen from the trees, and soon we had invented the perfect hybrid game of basoc. Think baseball with a soccer ball. I am the pitcher, I bounce the ball in, and Will or Andie whacks it with a thick stick. It turns out that Will is the Willie Mays of basoc. Every pitch - pow! - sent me running out of the grove and across the pitch to retrieve the rolling soccer - oo

Thoughts while walking

I walk back and forth to work, two miles each way through some of London's nicer neighborhoods. This gives me ample time to think deep thoughts: The BBC is not NPR. Some people might think that's a good thing. But when I brought my radio on my walk one morning this week and tuned in, expecting to find news headlines, I heard instead an in depth analysis of a man who kept putting off important surgery. Apparently this happens sometimes, people postponing surgery because they are scared. Apparently this is a bad thing to do. Apparently the man's wife was quite upset with him. Apparently, a panel of psychologists, psychiatrists, surgeons, and BBC moderators can spend a good chunk of time discussing it. I changed channels. London has stupid drive-time radio DJs just like we do at home. But they talk so fast in their fancy accents that I have a hard time understanding them. I resolve to give up on the radio and go back to the iPod. There are many gorgeous women in Lon
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Will: Why should I go first? (I look at him, the Dad look that says 'because I say so.') Today we started off the day with a nice sleep-in until 8. Then Mom came back from her run and off we went to Regents Park. It was a bit overcast - not foggy, overcast - and windy. But it was nice. Boy, was there a lot of birds. There were swans, ducks, laughing gulls, great blue herons, Canadian geese, pigeons and ravens. Andie: The ravens hopped! We went to the playground and set up a blanket on the grass. After lunch it started raining on us Will: But only for a little bit. Andie: Hey I'm talking. Like Will said, it only rained for a little bit. But while it was raining we had two small umbrellas to cover all three of us and the blanket and Will's diablo. Will: So, as I was saying, there was lots of birds. We went to the boathouse and got some ice cream and walked to Marks and Spencers. We both got some clothes. Daddy: Why don't you guys talk about what w

The Importance of Being NOT Jet-lagged

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It can be kind of cool to wake up at 3am, ready to go. On the first night / early morning, I tuned into the Giants game streaming online and cheered when Pablo Sandoval hit a grand slam as I worked on my email. Going for a run is pleasant - no traffic on the roads, a few runners giving a righteous grunt to each other as we pass. You can listen to a ballgame, get through your email, exercise, and still arrive at the office (walking!) before 8. Of course by mid-afternoon you feel like garbage, but your co-workers understand when you lay your head on your desk and grab a power nap. After a few days of it, though, waking up at 3am isn't all that fun, especially when you go to bed around 11. That's why today was a special day. A full night sleep! Sleeping in! And in our new apartment, no less (upgraded yesterday after the first one kind of sucked). I arrived on Monday and worked a full week. Walking to work, I get to avoid the crowded tube and check out various neighborhoo

4th of July Cannonball Contest

We have had our annual 4th of July pool party last weekend and it was another raucous success, especially the Cannonball Contest. The diving board survived!