Cancer rising

As I left the house today I was aware of a flash of yellow darting in front of me. I followed the blurry shape and watched as it landed on my garden wall. It was the loveliest little bird: very refined, light grey with a yellow undercarriage and a great long tail which bobbed up and down as it watched me. It allowed me to get really very close. I'd never seen a bird bobbing its tail like that, and immediately assumed that it was a Pied Wagtail, although a bit of research revealed that it was actually a Grey Wagtail, a slightly rarer creature, whom I'm told usually lives by water. I can't actually think where the nearest source of water is to us, Waterlow Park, perhaps, so he's obviously a little way off his patch. That said, he's more than welcome to visit us again because he's a glorious little fella. I felt honoured that he wanted to say hello. 

shitty picture, I know, but you never know when the fellas are gonna fly off!

I had a little cry today after reading some of the positive messages people are writing on Facebook about gay marriage. I think we're standing on the edge of a major social change. First Ireland, then America. Australia will surely follow. And then what? Italy? Russia? For a moment I didn't understand why I was crying, and then I realised that it was out of relief. I was crying because I didn't need to cry anymore! I'd been so frightened as a teenager, but, because of the waves of love coming towards the LGBT community right now, those awful feelings of self-loathing and terror would be felt by fewer and fewer young lads. It's an amazing thing.

Less amazing is the situation in Greece, which is becoming graver by the minute. All Greeks are now limited to getting 60 euros out of their bank accounts each day and people are predicting a humanitarian crisis. George Osbourne, in his wisdom, has told British people going on holiday to Greece to take "plenty of money with them." Surely this is a catastrophe in the waiting? Greece is on its knees. Everyone there is poor. They know all foreign tourists are comparatively wealthy and carrying large sums of cash... You do the maths. I suspect heading to that particularly country will be like going to the Wild West.

We went to the Heath today as the sun set, and sat in our favourite field, dipping crisps in hummus as the silhouettes of swallows fluttered like bats between the trees. Hampstead Heath is such a magical place. If you've never been, I genuinely recommend a visit. Whatever the weather, there's always something astonishing going on. I leave you with a picture of Nathan in the long grass, the moon rising in the background.