Here is the last of my Facebook diary entries, from 8th May 2012. The following day I turned to WordPress:
Having broken not one but two cafetiere glasses last week I walked to Wimbledon and back in search of new ones. Wimbledon, land of Starbucks, Costa and Cafe Nero. Wimbledon, where, in my childhood, you could smell coffee roasted and being ground in a shop along the broadway where I rode the last of the original trams to run in London in the early 50s. Wimbledon, where Centre Court is a modern shopping mall sporting, among other outlets, Whittards (of Chelsea) where I bought the replacement glasses. Centre Court is alongside the grand 30s Town Hall of my youth which is now a Tescos.
Nothing stands still, said Heraclitus.
On the way there, in Mostyn Road, I exchanged ‘good morning’s with a man who looked so like Stan Laurel that I half expected him to scratch his head in the comedian’s idiosyncratic way.
After a fry-up in the Mica Cafe (Wimbledon’s best , if you don’t go up the hill to Wimbledon Village where a fry-up is a full English breakfast) I returned by a circuitous route involving Dorset Road, Circle Gardens, and Mostyn Road.
This evening Jackie and I ate at the Watch Me, our favourite Sri Lankan restaurant on Morden Road.
Perhaps it was Stan Laurel ! I often wonder how many ghosts we see and don’t realise that it was not a real human being. I have thought that just twice in my lifetime, on both occasions after a conversation about years previously when I did the Maths and realised that something strange was going on, for the person in question to have done what he said he did.
There is much we don’t understand, John. Thanks a lot
What are cafetiere glasses ? In 2015 we were in London, we went to Wimbledon, to look at the Centrecourt and everything else 🙂
Thanks very much, Lakshmi. https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1264&bih=744&ei=plPxWoHXEs-asAf4s4mgCQ&q=cafetiere+glass+replacement&oq=Cafetiere+gl&gs_l=img.1.1.0i8i30k1j0i24k1l8.1160.23216.0.31545.12.11.0.1.1.0.119.991.7j4.11.0….0…1ac.1.64.img..0.12.988…0j0i30k1.0.aaJb5a2L9nM
“A man who looked so like Stan Laurel that I half expected him to scratch his head in the comedian’s idiosyncratic way.” LOL! This was hilarious!
So pleased, Jill. Thanks very much
I’ve so enjoyed these early forays into your journaling, Derrick; I’m quite sorry to see them stop. I couldn’t help taking a peek at your early entries here on WordPress and now I’m fighting the urge to start reading from the beginning…. ???
Very many thanks, Sandra. No need to fight on my account 🙂
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Wimbledon sounds like a lovely place to visit for a coffee..
So upmarket since my childhood, Ivor. Thanks very much
From Heraclitus in one sentence to Stan Laurel in the very next. First time in the history of the language. 🙂
I agree– impressive! 🙂
🙂
Unlikely to be repeated, Oglach. Many thanks
I didn’t know Wimbledon was a place for coffee, and I wish I had a favorite Sri Lankan restaurant. 😉
I hope it really was Stan Laurel you saw.
Many thanks, Merril
I’ve enjoyed these early entries, too. And while pictures definitely enhance a post, you illustrate how good writing stands on its own.
Thank you very much, Laurie. Lovely comment
I have never seen a Sri Lankan restaurant in the U.S. but my dear Sri Lankan friend makes a mean chicken curry!
I’ll bet. Thanks a lot, Luanne