It is a truth almost universally acknowledged (at least in this hemisphere) that Spring has sprung. Of course, while our friends and family are hanging out in T-shirts and sandals and have been for weeks, around here, Spring keeps sprung-ing, and then taking gigantic leaps backwards. Fortunately, for the most part, despite the cooler temps which have worried our swim buddy, The Dragon Lady (so named for her tattoo), who just this weekend went and planted orchids (!) in her yard, we believe we have arrived safely in the new season. Even if it snows again, we’ll call it a Spring storm, so there’s no turning back.
One of the particular joys of this flat are the windows, and this time of year is prime-time for people watching. We eat our breakfast looking out the window and watching people wander by, walking their children or their …stoats or ferrets or whatever it is the guy down the street has on the tiny halter and leash. In the afternoons, after we return from errands, T. sometimes props her feet on the windowsill and knits and watches the blonde herd from across the street rip around the garden, climbing trees in costume. They’ve been known to be out there, even in the rain.
There are eleven shades of green in the crescent garden, and this weekend we had a day of sharp breezes, scudding clouds and brilliant sun and enjoyed watching the population of the neighborhood come out, being dragged by their dogs, pushing their little ones, and hefting their bottles of whatever and sun bathing.
All week long, any day with even a sliver of sun finds runaway office people in smart black suits, older folk in tweedy golf hats and young women with their charges stopping by our crescent park, finding a bit of uninhabited grass, and simply sitting down. Often visiting our park is an impulse stop; people walking up the long hill to the hostel simply need a breather, or young guys with their “shopping” – bags of potato chips and drinks – see it as a great place to open their cans and stay awhile (those particularly lacking in charm relieve themselves in a hedge before moving on). People bring incomprehensible craft projects out and put them together. Students lug books, then fall asleep over them. Veiled women strap their charges into their strollers, and sit chatting in a desultory fashion, probably making comments on the people watching them out of the window…
Peace – a rare commodity – being given away for free, in our crescent garden.
Politics have been a big deal here — for months, we’ve been getting pamphlets and ads slipped through the letterbox urging us to support so-and-so for MP, and Mrs. Someone for council. The campus paper aired views from various parties, and there’s been a long debate about Tories and …Whigs? No, wait, that’s historical. Labor. Yes. Labor and Tories and possibly Liberal Democrats and one other group, but it’s hard to keep track (much like throwing Libertarians
and the Green Party into the American electoral process, any more than three choices, and most people get lost). Anyway – the vote has been cast, and the UK was quietly shocked to find they have essentially a tie between the two largest parties.
We were taught in high school government classes that in U.S. politics, at least, it’s almost statistically impossible for there to be a tie about anything — one, because new parties proliferate like mold, and two, because if there is a tie, the law is in place to provide for a run-off vote, which is essentially a “do-over.” A “hung Parliament,” which is what the UK voting drama is being called here, is quite unprecedented, but there are laws in place to take care of it as well. Theoretically.
…of course, the laws for individual councils deciding on ties is much funnier than the weighty parliamentary procedures which will go on to fix all of the UK. Councils can flip a coin or cut a deck of cards to decide whose party is in control. Here’s hoping for a solution that simple for the British Isles.
Or, maybe everyone could just sit out in the garden and decide that politics are probably not that important after all.