Tuesday 15 March 2011

Butt Dust and Brighton

Thank god we got out. What a miracle. We found out a few things this weekend. Sometimes, especially in winter weather, it's hard to get out. Ben has coughed his way through most of it. Put your socks on. Put your socks on. Trance state child in spiritual communion with tv glued to Sarah Jane or Ben Ten. Put your socks on. Parent gives up. OR parent turns off the tv. It isn't that bad, but sometimes, tv is the easier option. Though a rather slobby feeling accompanies it. I haven't seen an adult program for months. But we got out. I get a medal.

It was an adventure. We went to Kings Cross on Saturday and enquired about a family rail card. The desk man was nice and talked me out of it. If you're just going to Brighton, take London Bridge for a tenner. It's not advertised on the net. So we have a whole new window--how to get out of here away from the brick and the sirens. Thank God. Reasonable too. One pound for Ben. Isn't that funny. Less than the price of a coffee. You can whittle away ten pounds just walking down the street.

We meant to go on Saturday and Sunday as the weather was nice on Saturday. We met a lovely girl in the Mcdonalds and chatted about Wales, so have an option there with a possible house swap. The sheep are being shaven right now I think she said. Or they were having babies. Something about the sheep. She'd been to Greece too. She said Don't go to Greece in the summertime. Greece might be a nice break in October or next February.

We could have gone on Saturday, but then we got sucked into the park by an invisible giant vortex and stayed there for the remainder of the day until it was unlikely that we'd be departing. Child like familiar places. It is his favorite place to be. Georgina has had a third baby. I told them about my party this coming weekend. Zoe was up for going with us to Brighton and said her daughter Rose would like to see the bmx jam. It would have been nice to have some company. But then, the next morning, she phoned just a half hour before to say her child was sick. Sick child. A downer. But we are used to doing things ourselves. And we were on bikes and they didn't have bikes, so it would have been complicated. I wanted to get a little ride in.

We rode down to London Bridge. Had  a  big bag of sammys packed for the day. Caught the train. Rode to the seaside. Ben was loving the waves. The pebbles. Nothing but pebbles. Actually, the Thames beach is much more interesting. I've gathered a whole collection of nice broken worn china pieces that I hope to make a big collage mosaic with. Lovely bits.

Then we rode to Moulsecoombe. Found our way to the gym. I was getting a bit testy as the day was going by and of course, we were late, but at least arrived to see some of it. Maybe an hour and a half. It was good to see it in person rather than see videos. I spotted a few familiar faces. The net and videos distort things. That whole situation is terribly distorted and can't rewind. I think he was a bit shocked to see me there. I hope it didn't annoy him. I simply wanted to see a bike jam and watch him ride. You'd think that wouldn't upset someone. Our history is not great.

Fish and chips then the train. A lovely ride home. Ben in the loo on the train. "Mum....excuse me...Mum...come and wipe my bum. Come and wipe my bum Mum." If that didn't get everyone laughing.I still had a smirk on my face when I came in the loo. Oh. That upset him. Don't laugh at me. Poor boy. It was cute really. He has no idea how loud he is. Four men seated near us he played with them. They tossed him around. Scottish American guy. Full of knock knock jokes. And a lovely Mancunian couple. So funny. Then Ben got out his sonic screwdriver and banged the seat with it. So much dust came out. We were amazed. Then he started banging other seats. Sascha said....no no boy. That is the butt dust of a million commuters. Mind the butt dust. We had a good laugh with the butt dust and exchanged numbers. They were lovely.

Ben has amazing amounts of energy. He is a sturdy healthy boy despite he lack of appetite. Look mum, I'm still not tired. 930 we got home. We are going to do more exploring out of London. A couple with a pad on Brighton dock willing to swap one weekend. Good things have come out of it. Being in motion is always a good thing. There is always the unexpected and discoveries and the opening of eyes. Better than tv. 

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