Picture this.
Rain is lightly coating the darkened ceiling to floor window of my living room. The kind of feather rain that lightly strikes your face in a staccato rhythm. Tendrils of cold find it's way in, swirling currents of cold air, which my central heating is doing quite an admirable job of keeping at bay.
I'm curled up on the couch, enveloped in warmness, typing away and watching Michael Palin being literally straddled and stretched by Moroccan men in a steam bath in Tangiere.
Ooh, now Michael Palin's just met Johnathan's friend Birdy, a rooster who is sitting on a sofa in the library, who has just been described as a "dog with feathers". Apparently Johnathan thought that it would be a chicken and lay him eggs for breakfast, but "it turned out to be a bloke".
That's the way the last few days (since the exam-that-shall-not-be-spoken-about-again ended on Wednesday) have unfolded.
Real apple crumble days... warm and buttery. Days where there are no overriding reasons to get out of bed except the anticipation of catching up with treasured friends, most of whom I haven't seen or talked to in a couple of months. Blessed days, when time meanders along to your tune. When social meetings end at their own accord, without deadlines or other things to go to. Where one coffee date with someone naturally flows into a Picasso viewing with another. A time unbounded by plans and appointments and decided mainly by spontaneous phonecalls. Sharing moments undergirded by old friendships and decorated with fantastic food, coffees and desserts. People... Loo, Gaya, Nishal, Agnes, Audrey, Andrew, Hannah (the baby), Alan, Debsie-Pepsi, Tash, Rob, Tim, Wennie, Kemble, my aunt and Hannah (the housemate). Man, that's quite a long list, considering it's only been 3 days!
Oh it's been great. These were the dreams that kept me going (alongside with the possibility of failure) through the endless nights of mugging for the exams.
The only thing that I would (and am going to) trade these days for, is a trip home to see Mum, Dad, Shen and Gerald. I'll be leaving tomorrow for somewhere between 2-3 weeks.
So, whoever's back home now, give me a call in a few days and we'll go and have some coffee.
I know this really good place... :)
