Until recently we'd lost touch, but Bristol has brought us together again - we work out that we haven't seen each other for ten years.
She has Scoliosis (an abnormally twisted spine) which affects her posture as well as her breathing and makes her prone to really horrible chest infections. Apparently Frida Kahlo was one of the first patients to have had the same spinal surgery that she herself had in her teens. In spite of her disability, or perhaps partly because of it, she's plucky, determined, gregarious and driven. We meet up this evening, my first night here, and head out for something to eat.
Pink Floyd and Nick Drake are being played on a small boat moored on the floating harbour where we're served tapas by smiley well-spoken student types who may quite possibly be a little stoned. We chatter merrily, catch up on a decade's worth of life - and it's lovely (even though the toilets are out of order). Afterwards I see her off by bus and walk back to my hotel in the dark; the city centre streets, though alien to me, still seem busy and safe.
Earlier in my room I'd been looking out at this unpretty view, and I like it. It's that easy shabby reality which contrasts with the more antiseptic aspirations of corporate hospitality on my side of the glass.
There are Christmas snowflake decorations stuck to one of the windows of the buildings overlooking the back yard, (saves putting them up again in December I s'pose) and feral pigeons flirting on the ridge tiles... and gulls! All of them make me smile. We don't get many gulls round my way, so I poke my head round the voile to observe this one who appears to be posing for a fashion shoot or something.
Yes, yes, these pictures could be taken almost anywhere, I know - but I'm glad it's here!
Bristolian gulls - they have attitude. Great tunes, of course.
ReplyDeleteAttitude and a regional 'accent' too, apparently!
DeleteMy Mother developed scoliosis ( well it got much worse 15 years ago) so I know how debilitating it is, she was told she was too old for surgery and now she's a tiny comedic Richard III, she battles on gamely though still helping "old ladies"! Gulls are so handsome ...and clever too, visitors to Brighton ask "how do you sleep?" When they are kept awake by their constant mewing, you, sort of , get used to it and the seaside really wouldn't be the same without them.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your mother - but good to know she doesn't let it stop her too much!
DeleteI am a fan of gulls too... I know not everyone is... but their sound is so evocative of everything about the sea, and as a fan of the sea as well, the two are of course inextricably linked!
Lovely that you were able to catch up with your old pal. Through the wonders of t'internet, I've recently made initial contact with my closest school chum for the first time in 35 years! 3½ decades of life - somewhat terrifying.
ReplyDeleteI love those shots of the gull - what a poser!
How brilliant! That's a lot of catching up to do... perhaps you could send the links to your recent autobiographical series on UTOTS to help bridge a few gaps?!
DeleteThe gull stood like that for ages, posing so elegantly - it's that daintily cocked leg that does it for me.
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