It is 19 degrees, which does not seem a lot for England in summer, except that it is 11pm at night. Never before has it been so hot for so long in my life time The last time it was almost this dramatic, was 50 years ago. A summer I will never forget. It is 50 years since my mother's death.
I carried her in my thoughts today as I headed into London for an exhibition at the Tate and to catch up with a couple of friends. . Her daughters are older than she was when she died, by many years. We will face old age, unchartered waters I seem to grow more fearful of the world and every little niggle but life is also still full of joy too as today showed.
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| Hurvin Anderson Tate Britain. |
The blues are brought on by the mostly brutal men making life here for refugees so miserable, but also of course those mostly men from America to Iran who cause the misery that makes people flea. But of course it is n ot just that, this has been the most terrifying year for summer fires ever. As my train sped through Enfield the scored burnt earth from a trackside fire was a stark illustration in miniature of scenes all over Spain, France, Greece and so on this summer. Even whole swathes of England have gone up in flames and many friends have struggled in the heat.
Up north, dog sitting, the weather was just pleasant time to catch up with friends, sit in gardens with a cup of tea, and breath. The flags dying on the lamposts show all is not well there too, but in the village it just felt wonderful to be out.
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| Part of the final exhibition at the National Glass Centre |
Sunderland's National Glass Centre is dying, but you could not tell on the day I finally got there, after a two hour bus journey, and before a four hour return, whilst there I also briefly discovered the coast. Then at Brancepeth, I finally visited the castle, I was staggered by its size and force. The Rising of the North happened from here all those years ago, and now Andy Burnham is promising finally more power and wealth to the area. I rode the elderly railway from Weardale to Bishop and dropped in for breakfast of paneer paratha before heading to the Durham fringe festival. Not formally a holiday, as every morning and evening I had to walk the dog and because he was not well, I even had to find a way to get him to take meds (chickhen is the solution) but it felt like a real break, being in the green, when the rest of the country has turned dusty and brown.
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| Brancepeth Castle. |
