A Londoner

A week in this great city and I'm beginning to feel like a local. The weekend's big news items were LIVE EARTH, the start of the Tour de France, and the release of Alastair Campbell's book. The Guardian had a piece dripping with sarcasm about the Live Earth concert. The article highlighted how many tons of greenhouse gases it took to get people there, private jets performers used, and Madonna's carbon dioxide production to promote her new album. Given the Guardian's obsession with carbon footprints their stinging criticism is hardly surprising. Campbell's book caused quite a stir in yesterday's papers as well. Campbell used to be Tony Blair's chief spokesperson until 4 years ago. Angie can't wait to get her hands on the book. She's eager to read it not only to get juicy inside info about the Blairs, but also because Alastair Campbell lives here in the Hampstead area and she's seen him on the heath a few times.
Yesterday, Sunday, Angie and I took a train to Kent to visit friends of hers. David and Lorna live out in the countryside within commutable distance to London. They have a charming old brick house set on beautifully landscaped grounds. The house is an old, converted farmhouse with uneven floors and thick walls and lots of little coves and beams and things. Their garden is gorgeous with a large rolling lawn and beds of English flowers like hollyhocks and lavender and lilacs and roses. They also grow vegetables and berries of various types. David, a lanky, greying guy with the friendliest of smiles, is one of those traditional type Englishmen who uses words like jolly and stroppy. Lorna is very chatty and easy to be with. Lorna brought out a pitcher of Pimms and we sat in the shade of an oak, and chatted about this and that. David and Lorna put out a huge spread of salads at their poolside table for lunch. This went down with a very dry red wine. For dessert we had a homemade cheesecake covered with homegrown raspberries. After coffee and dark mint chocolate Angie and I got back on the train to London. The ride was pleasant. I stared out at the green fields and grazing sheep with a feeling of contentment. What a civilized way to spend a Sunday.