Cumulus: Reflections

Two days before we leave this great city. When I was here in 1981, I didn't want to leave when December 12 came along and I had to get on a plane at Gatwick to go back to New York. Two years ago when we spent our first and last weekends of a 3-week trip to the UK here in London, I didn't want to leave. And now I don't want to leave. There's something about this city that is so alive and so down-to-earth. It's definitely glitzier in some areas than it was 26 years ago, but when we were down south of the Thames on Saturday wandering around streets that have yet to be "improved" by 21st century development, it was just like it was in 1981 and I felt 19 years old again. Some of the recent development is truly an improvement, and there are lots of fun things going on now that didn't used to exist here (like healthy food in restaurants, better Tube trains, shops open on Sundays, the wild streets of Camden Town that have become a punk/goth mecca for Alternative Trendies, and the whole of the Southbank that used to be boring at best and seedily dangerous at worst but is now a riverside festival of arts and beauty and family-friendly play). We bought a few books of London walks before we came, and another after we got here, and although we've used them all and gotten a lot of good information from them, our favorite way to spend the day has become Wandering: taking whatever little street or alley captures our attention next, and occasionally reorienting ourselves with the London A-Z (pronounced "Zed" here), an astounding book of detailed street maps for the whole of greater London. My favorite book!

While James has been exploring a new fascination with issues surrounding the increasing presence of Islam in the West, I've been reflecting on Beauty: where I find it, why something is Beautiful to me, what is common across the globe in terms of Beauty, how it can bring people together when perhaps nothing else can. At an exhibit at the British Library on the texts of the 3 major religions of the world--Islam, Christianity, and Judaism--there was a computer available at the end to add your personal comment on or response to the exhibit. A couple of comments were positive statements of mutual understanding and tolerance, while one was a rant against religion in general. As I watched the comments scroll across the screen, a phrase came into my head and I typed it in: "Look for the beauty and you will find each other." What struck me most about the exhibit was how gorgeous the texts and other accoutrements of each religion are, each in their own distinct way, all equally beautiful. I personally choose to focus on the beauty and see where that leads me. Beyond mere appreciation of aesthetics, I know that already I find that in order to see the beauty I have to understand more about what it's expressing--the callligraphy of Islamic art makes my soul seep with longing for something, but since I don't even know what the letters are, let alone what the words mean, I can only go so far with the longing. The utter mystery of it is in its own way inspiring, but I'd also like to be able to get beneath the lovely lines to the meaning expressed by them. And all this makes me think more particularly about my own artistic expressions and how to go deeper with them.

That said, here are some photos from the past couple of days--not necessarily deep expressions of art, but definitely expressions of the beauty and fun we're having here!

James enjoying a rest at Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath

Kenwood House grounds in Hampstead Heath

Hampstead Heath

A historic building that's still a functioning inn & cafe

Southwark Cathedral

Remains of the medieval apse at Southwark Cathedral

Remains of a Roman road discovered beneath Southwark Cathedral

St. Paul (photo taken by James)

James and John Wesley

A magnifique French cafe

Cranes (photo taken by James)

Another historic pub still in use as a pub

One of a fountain installation on the Southbank where each figure, emerging from a lump of volcanic rock, emits water from a different human orifice--this one is crying (photo taken by James)

Dianne playing with the kids in a trick fountain on the Southbank where the walls of water go on and off randomly (photo taken by James)

Some of the 79 steps we climb every day to our apartment

The ever-polite Brits

A sign indicating what not to put in the toilet (in a public restroom): can you figure out what all the items are?

The price of gas in UK£ per liter (so multiply by about 4 to get the price per gallon, and then multiply again by 2 to get the equivalent in US$ right now)