In-My-Pocket 2016

Whenever I travel,  Kinga always says, put me in your pocket. So, I do. Here are a few snapshots of a day with Sabrina & Mauricio in Manchester. The morning after I arrived. I awoke to the delight of a tall glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed by Sabrina, as well as coffee & porridge made by Mauricio. Although I had endured a full 24 hours of travel the day before, this made me feel like I didn't even have a twinge of jet lag left (this turned out to be utterly deceptive, albeit delightful).

Porridge made with freshly toasted seeds, various grains, Greek yoghurt, tahini, and maple syrup. Yum!

A century ago, the flat that they rent used to look like this. Their part is in the building on the lower right hand side:

John Heatherington & Sons 1896. SOURCE: Wikipedia. Creative Commons.

Behind the archway in the lower right hand corner of this photo, there is a space where Sabrina envisions possibly making a garden. We named it The Shy Garden - a name which arose out of my misreading of a sign which was advertising about-to-be-built apartments with Sky Gardens.

A future "Shy Garden"?

Next, was a visit to their studios, a short walk from their home.

The ever talented Sabrina builds furniture, and writes music.

These are some of the drums she uses - usually with resonators placed on top.

A recent draft of a  composition written onto scrolls on the wall.

Next, after more walking, was Dim Sum at the Glamorous Chinese Restaurant - that's what it is called. Totally excellent food.

Just so you can see that I too was at the Glamorous Chinese Restaurant. Buddha Buddha!

Later, at a fruit and veg stand we met a fourth generation vendor. A photo of his grandfather selling veg in the same spot in 1928 was further off to the left.

In the photo behind the vendor is the image of him working in the same spot as a boy.

Back at the apt, there is a copy of an old photo of myself in my mid-twenties on Sabrina's fridge. Now that is cool, in so many ways.

There is also an old poster which I had passed on to Sabrina more than a decade ago. There are two women in it, both straddling their motorcycles and both smoking. Beneath them is quote from Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Among the splendid activities of our age the nuclear family lingers on, inert and blind, like a clam in a horse race.  Gilman (1860-1935) was a writer, feminist and social reformer who was also famous for her short story, The Yellow Wall-Paper. It may be time for a reread. I read it at least four decades ago. Even so, when I reflect on it, I figure that maybe our particular clam didn't fare too badly in the nuclear family horse race. So far, so good.