Of changes (and almost a travel report)

First let me tell all those I sadly didn’t call and didn’t see (there are quite a few - whether in London or Madrid) that two things stole the little time I had: in London it was granny-dom and in Madrid a few “tramites”. How can anyone be in Spain and not do the time-honoured thing: sitting in grey offices with a sweaty palm and a number in your hand hoping the others won‘t take all day. Even a really fat newspaper eventually runs out of news and you can’t even wipe your by now black hands on your light grey slacks. 

The little 'beatle'

So-called becaue she lies mainly on her back with arms and legs in the air: my daughter Effie gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl (as though there’s anyone left on this planet who hasn’t heard!) and I was privileged to be able to be there with her and meet the little person who, by the time of posting this edition, may just have a name (Effie quite rightly considers the name giving something one should take very serious indeed – after all, it sits on the personality of whoever receives it for the rest of their livesª! It was a ´delivery from hell’. After 88 (!) hours of labour they finally did a Caesarean section.  But mother and daughter are doing just fine and I am in love. Totally. Had no idea that I would be so smitten, and in the plane to Madrid from London I tried to read, but every so often my eyes would be filmed over with something wet which eventually rolled down my cheeks.  I took about ten thousand photos to have them here with me in Peru to be able to have that sweet little face in front of me from time to time. Effie promised me to update me regularly with new ones. Long live new technology and the Internet.

Bargain-basement granny

What I didn’t know until I got there was the most enjoyable fact that I’ll have two for the price of one.  My son’s partner is also “baking” and it’s due towards the end of July. What a shame that more than likely I won’t be able to be there again so soon. Again, I’ll be relying on the Internet to keep me in photos and videos. 

Birthdays

While I was still in London, my ex’s lovely wife threw big party for a gaggle of April/early May birthday ‘children’ and a ‘meet the new addition to the family’ affair. Old friends met new, baby was showered in useful and beautiful presents and if felt good that a circle had closed.

London

It was a delight to be in my 'home town' again. Did miles and miles on the tube, walked up and down old stairs, no lifts to whichever floor, saw wonderful friends and reconnected with my life 'before'... WELL 'before'. It's changing, as it ought to. It's a living, breathing city. I had almost one whole month of sun. Yes, you are reading this right: sun, and London with sun is magical. There was Nina's little house and her garden, there was Oxfordshire and cats and rabbits and Jane and Martin (and the most amazing wisteria I have ever seen - if ever anything deserved the word 'awesome', that wisteria was it!), there was Milton Keynes and cows and Fiona and her wonderful family - I had a (tiring) ball and Katie and Charlotte, Mark and Marc and family - too many to mention evryone. And then there was THE CANAL where grandmother, mother and child walked to meet more friends. What a discovery in the middle of north-east London. Well, London has always been full of surprises, and of all the places where I have lived London is the most seductive and exciting one.

Madrid

In Madrid I took a nostalgic look at all the 'barrios' I love and all the pictures I didn't take when Lucho and I suddenly decided to mosey off to Peru. With old friends I walked that beautiful city, in Lynda's cosy place I found a haven of peace and entertainment (Declan!) and in Peñascales - in Lindy's new home - I discovered a place where elves may live and Bilbo Baggins probably stayed for a while. Each of her sons now have their own flats, and very much their own they are, nests for birds of very different feathers.

Musings (I have the right 'cause I am olde...)

The old story: ‘the only permanence in life is change’ is so very true. Never close doors, stay on that surfboard and try and keep your balance. I know from my own experience that it can be a very rough ride, and at times it feels as though we may drown. We never do. We just don’t trust ourselves. I promise you: we can walk on water! We’ve been told that happiness is ‘being nice and snug and SAFE’. Well, that’s a lie! Happiness is being rattled and falling into the dung and coming out again smelling of roses. Forgive, forget, give, get... I wish you a good ride on the see-saw of life.

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

• I am entering my first Peruvian winter. Shall report as it proceeds.  What strikes me right now is the extreme humidity. Everything gets clammy (yuk), and I am buying like mad everything they have invented to hang and put and squeeze into wardrobes and drawers slurping up the moisture which otherwise lets a variety of mushrooms grow on your favourite pants/shoes/sweaters ...   
  

• I may have waxed lyrical about the subtropical abundance here (and it hasn’t disappeared), but don’t be too jealous. Just now in April and May I experienced the most wonderful early spring days after a tough winter, especially in London where the Japanese cherries and the magnolias burst open in defiant exuberance... that was an amazing gift, another form of abundance, and when you got close, the whole tree was buzzing. The joy of it.
  

• Wedding coming up in July ... no, not a summer wedding, a deep and wet winter wedding. Must dash and get some suitable clobber. Shall keep you updated on that one too.
  

• When I got back, the doctor had filled the terrace with plants. What a home-coming. Must do it again soon, 'cause there is a part that still needs some. This afternoon, defying the wind and the cold (19 degrees !!!), I’ll probably sit out there, winter coated, and listen to the Pacific woooooshing while nursing a nice cold Peruvian beer. Jenny is just making ‘Ají de Gallina’ and one of her salads. There'll be home-made chicha too.Can smell it all from here.
  

• As a last Lima update I can tell you that we’ll soon have elections for Mayor and consequently most of the roads are dug up, taxis have difficulties circumnavigating the worst of the holes – all in order to make us feel that ‘something is being done’.
  

Heard a wonderful  joke on that theme recently and I’ll give you the short version: A US senator dies unexpectedly and knocks on St Peter’s door. St Peter looks through the little spy hole and is surprised because US senators normally don’t make it up there. So he decides the man may choose. He first sends him down to hell to have a peep. The senator is amazed: all his friends are there playing golf, chesty girls by the pools, drinks served, wonderful climate, the BBQs are amazing, and the devil himself is teeing off from time to time. At the end of the trial day he goes up again to what by now he finds rather boring heaven. Very little going on up there. St Peter pops the question and the senator answers that, of course, he prefers hell. It’s great down there, even though he doesn’t quite understand how he could have been so misinformed. When he knocks at hell’s door again and is let in, there is a desert where there was a golf course, his friends are shovelling smelly stuff into big bags, the girls have disappeared, there are some old hags... he looks up at the devil who grins: “Yesterday was election time, today you voted.”

Ok, now you know where I've been - and why. Next time more from Comanche territory (alien shores with different rules)...

The future doesn't exist, all that's out there is just potential. And we are shaping it. So, be creative and shape the good stuff. Till next time. 

Oh yes, before I forget - I have to do a bit of marketing for myself, don't I? Buy this amazing new novel 'COMING UP FOR AIR' by Rose Mary Boehm on amazon.co.uk or amazon.com. Read the latest reviews on Amazon.