This content is protected against AI scraping.
Normally, when I go shopping, I have a lovely walk through the park followed by a short stretch of lane pretending to be a thoroughfare. I then cross Castle Street which is rarely pleasant but not too bad first thing because the traffic is at a stand still. Long Garden Walk is next then, at the top of Lion and Lamb Yard, I go to Starbucks then Waitrose. This is then reversed for my trip home. Apart from the occasional rat runner in the lane and the traffic in Castle Street, it’s all very pleasant.
Then there are the days that I have to visit West Street and the Borough. Like today. That’s when I realise that Farnham can be very unpleasant.
It’s full of cars, loud and polluting. Because the cars are more important than the pedestrians, the footpaths are full of people, jostling and frustrated. Voices raised at noisy kids, snarling people wanting to be somewhere else. It’s awful.
Okay, I realise there are lots of much worse places to be. On the World Service I was listening to a piece on air pollution around the world today and both Cairo and Lahore sound like places I never want to try and breath in. One person stated that, she believes, access to air is a human right. This made me wonder when rights trump requirement. And reminded me of the air quality at the Summer Palace in Beijing.
Anyway, I had to go to Boots for a new eye mask for Mirinda because she’s, somehow, lost her other one. It has to be in the bedroom somewhere but, it appears to have grown invisible. Actually, I’m sure it will turn up tomorrow when I tidy in the bedroom.
Mirinda was off today to spend a couple of days with Sophie before attending (and participating in) a conference at Bath University, one of her alma maters. Can you have more than one? Possibly. Mirinda certainly has a few.
She set off just after 11 which meant, of course, that I was in charge of walking the dogs.
This meant fishing out the Flicka Stik™ and taking them up to the Avenue of Trees so Emma could chase a ball and Freya could have a long, slow investigation of the surrounding vegetation in between bouts of snoring next to me.
It was a million miles from Lahore and almost perfection. Almost because I could still hear the traffic.
Then, of course, today was the first day of the first Ashes test at Edgbaston. A good start by England with Australia put into bat late on. Augurs well for an excellent series.
