Saturday, December 08, 2012

The Buckinghamshire Kestrel

Ahh... housework... listening to Martha and the Vandellas Come and Get These Memories.
You see, I went out and got shopping number one, popped it into the house and went off for shopping number two; when I got to the Oxfam shop to buy Christmas cards I realised that I'd locked my keys in the house.
I phoned Offsprog One in Brighton and set off to the tube station, trying to buy a ticket by phone. I'd put the shopping in the boot of the car to keep cool till I got back.
But at the tube station: had I locked the car?
Urgggh! Two years ago I left the car unlocked when I had a similar key crisis and had the Satnav and my vintage iPod stolen.
So I went back up the hill, and decided to drive to Brighton instead. It was a  beautiful wintry day and in the only slow bit of traffic somewhere around Heathrow, a small kestrel hovered above us looking for mice on the roofs of our cars.

The Offsprogs had arranged to meet for tea anyway so the three of us sat down for a late breakfast and key-exchange before I drove back through a still-beautiful day.
The kestrel was still there, floating about on the thermals that rose from the traffic and living in hope, incongruously etched against the navy blue afternoon sky.

Bless!

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