Sunshine and showers - from London to Porth

Posted on July 4, 2007
Filed Under - leaving the rat race |

This describes my mood as much as the weather, on Monday 2 July, my last full day in London. The day began sunny (in all respects) as I hit upon the idea of going with my mother to the Anthony Gormley exhibition Blind Light, about which I had heard good things. Serendipitously, it was half price day at the Hayward Gallery. Although there are a number of exhibits, the ‘blind light’ installation is the main attraction and worth the entry price alone.

It consists of a huge glass room filled with dense steam and you wander about in it, unable to see more than a few inches in front of your face. It is at first completely disorientating, as you have no idea where the exit is. Other figures suddenly loom at you out of the mist, with a giggly ‘ooh sorry’ before melting away again. The effect is the same when you look into the glass room from the outside: suddenly a hand materialises out of the steam, groping for the window. We certainly found it unnerving when we first went in, but as we relaxed and got used to it, we started to enjoy the adventure of wandering blindly through the steam and having conversations with our fellow ghosts. Anyone who has been caught on top of a mountain when the cloud comes down will have had a similar experience, only a lot colder!

Later that evening, I got rather tired and emotional while out for dinner with my mum and youngest sister. “Precipitation”, as Tom Waits had it, “was expected”! I don’t know why. It wasn’t as simple as being sad about leaving, it was a whole range of complex feelings which had been welling up unseen over the past few days. A big hug from my sis helped a lot.

The next day, Tuesday 3 July I was pleased to get on the train, if only to get away - physically and psychologically - from the uncomfortable feelings of the night before. The train journey from London to Newquay is a bum-numbing 5 1/2 hours, so it’s a good job it is so richly scenic! I had the latest edition of Prospect magazine and The Undercover Economist to keep me occupied. I am enjoying the latter, by the way, although some of the scenarios he uses in his economic models don’t quite stand up to the real world examples. However, the broader points are very interesting.

One of my favourite parts of the journey from London to Newquay is going over Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Tamar Bridge, which is the boundary between Devon and Cornwall. The river is very pretty with its moored yachts and pastel-coloured houses nestling in the rolling hills. We changed at Par for the Newquay branch line. Even if you were completely unfamiliar with the route you would know it was the train to Newquay by the assortment of skateboards, surf boards and shaggy-haired types disembarking the train. I had my skateboard with me so blended right in.

I saw a rainbow from the train, an auspicious sign for the start of this new phase in my life, the sunshine and showers that had been a feature of the last couple of days eventually combining to parent something fresh, beautiful and fleeting. By the time I reached Porth, the sun was setting over the sea. I wandered down to the beach, feeling the sand beneath my feet and breathing in the fresh sea air. I was home.

Stumble it!

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