Coming out of the shadows

When I woke up this morning, London seemed to be bathed in a beautiful milky light, which by 3pm had turned into hideous driving rain and that sort of blue half-light I associate with St Petersburg in February. 

We went to Russia, rather bizarrely, on a school trip  at the start of 1989, and for the first three days of our time in Leningrad, were engulfed by an impenetrable, grainy light which would have sent the strongest of men to an early grave. I remember standing in front of a grey concrete communist building, looking out across the grey Baltic Sea and remarking that even the white horses on the crests of the driving waves, were grey. No wonder the Scandanavians have such a high rate of suicide. For some reason I also remember singing Love Changes Everything from Aspects of Love at the same time. More reasons for depression...

I did a morning of admin before meeting Fiona for lunch at our favourite Greasy Spoon. We then went for one of our epic treks across London whilst talking ten to the dozen. She brought some tangerines in the Co-op at Archway, which were, without wishing to sound too much like dear Mr Pepys, some of the best I've ever tasted. I'd eaten three by the time I reached home and upon walking through the door, washed them down with a big, fat banana. 

I'm about to start our second rehearsal for Oranges and Lemons, which I hope will prove to be as exciting as the first. A couple more first altos and a barrage of tenors and I'll consider myself to be a very lucky man! What would be nice, however, is for this tube train to leave Moorgate Station! 

November 17th 1660 was a Sunday and Pepys went to St Olave's Church not once, but twice. It was the first time the Gentlemen of the Navy Office had taken their wives to sit in their new balconied pew and a great fuss was made of Elizabeth. It seems Pepys was finally beginning to view his wife as the asset she obviously was! Elizabeth was emerging from the shadows!