Perfect Day

What a great day. Really. No sarcasm. I went to the little corner grocery store first thing in the morning because we needed milk (the largest quantity of milk available here is a litre, which doesn't go very far) and had a nice chat with the clerk, which is something I always enjoy.

Then I took Caroline to the neighborhood park, which a short walk through a nice leafy neighborhood to a broad open space with a nice playground. By "nice" I mean well supplied with the sort of playground equipment that would make a personal-injury lawyer turn cartwheels. Interesting thing about this country - they're not nearly as litigious as we Americans are. You'd never see a merry-go-round in an American playground. You remember those - everyone would sit on it and someone would run around pushing it as fast as they could before jumping on. Sort of a little kid centrifuge.

We met a really nice Brazilian family in the park, I hope to get together with them soon. Caroline had a good time with their daughter, who was kind enough to share her fruit. Now, I really resent the useless dad stereotype (you know, the one the advertising hacks like to use in commercials for cough syrup, wherein the mother is too sick to get out of bed so the father feeds the children cake for breakfast while overflowing both the dishwasher and washing machine and letting the cat have a crap in the piano), but I must admit that I do have a tendency to go off adventuring with the kids wholly unprepared. Today was no exception. No food, no water. Fortunately, people still exist who take pity on such helpless creatures as myself and are willing to share the benefits of their foresight.

We have an amazing Italian bakery just around the corner, so on the way back we stopped in for some cheese and cookies. No, these don't necessarily go together, it just happens that La Bottega del Pane has a fantastic selection of both. By the way, cookies are "biscuits" here, which is slightly confusing because crackers are also "biscuits". I've no idea what they call "biscuits". Probably something obvious like "jimby-wimbies".

After lunch, we all had a little playtime in the backyard. Michele and Caroline beat Michael and me in a soccer match. This is no great feat, given that Micheal's two and I have no athletic ability whatsoever. My ankle is still swollen where Michele kicked it. I think the doping committee wants a word with her.

After dinner, a short stroll into town to buy staples: biscuits (of the cracker variety) for the cheese, a roasting pan, a good bottle of wine and some ant spray. Kids in bed by 8, dinner, wine, cheese.

Weather-wise, this was probably the nicest day we've had since we arrived. It was bright and warm, with a nice breeze for most of the day. Some heavy overcast around lunchtime, but otherwise, simply glorious. On the way home tonight, with the warm brown Victorian brick standing against a crystal blue sky, it struck me that I'm actually living in London. Wow. That's kinda cool.

I've been told that London summers are the only reason anyone lives here, and summer's clearly on its way. And all along, I thought people came for the jimby-wimbies.