Perils of wearing a removable attachment on your back.

This is the first time in a few months that the wings have had an outing to the capital of England. They also had come back from a trip to the capitals of both Eire and the North of Ireland, so were feeling rather well travelled. Before I write a few words about this trip, I would like to record a funny story which is rather overdue in terms of my writing it down, but there you go….

In the middle of the summer, I had been in town for a couple of days and as I prepared to return to the country, I found myself standing on the forecourt of Liverpool Street Station. I was there with my wings, my bicycle, my bags, and also the suitcase and bag of my dragon slayer friend (plus all his equipment). Dragon slayer had, with 5 minutes to go before the train left, gallantly disappeared to purchase a picnic for the journey back. I heard the final call for the train, and with no answer from dragon slayers phone (only his answer phone to say he was off hunting dragons – what can one do?) I thought the wisest course of action would be to go to the train and ask the conductor to wait. I then realised that only 2 people could carry all the bags and push the bike – but with only one of me, I simply had to start the journey and see how far I got.

Thankfully I had struggled only a few steps before a very smartly dressed chap in a suit came and offered to give me a hand. It was so kind – he could have just walked passed like everyone else. SO we got the luggage and I onto the train in the very first carriage, and the bag angel stayed with me, with about one minute to go. My phone rang and it was dragon slayer to say he was safely on the train, picnic purchased, and where was I? You’re not on the train said I, I would have seen you. I am on the train he replied – to which I said which one? It was the wrong one. Similar destination, but not exactly. So what did he do…? (and this is where the flexibility, stamina and courage that hunting develops in one comes to the fore) Pushed his head out of the window to ask the conductor to open the doors (they were all locked as the train was about to leave). When the conductor said that was impossible as they were about to pull out of the station, the DS scambled out of the window, headfirst, from the train onto the platform, as the train started to shunt forward. And then sprinted to the right train as the doors were about to close – it was a very close shave indeed. But we wouldn’t have made it with out the bag angel – and a suited bag angel - amazing.

So then, a few weeks ago, I was cycling (shamefully wingless) but imagining that I did have them on. And I came to a one way street where I had to dismount. I was walking past some very swanky City revolving glass doors, and looked in and as I did a man came out. I smiled and thought – I recognise you - but thought it might be from one of our events in the City or something similar. Anyway, he caught me up and we started talking, and he commented that I looked rather out of place with the basket on my bicycle and bold stripes. More at home in France you would be, he suggested. And I still knew that I had seen him before, but we ascertained he had never been to one of the events. I must’ve mentioned something about the wings, and a light bulb came on and he said – that’s it, that’s where we have met before, on the platform at Liverpool Street – I helped you with your bags. Isn’t that amazing, to meet again. So I hope we will keep in touch.

And so today, on this little trip to the City, nothing notable happened except the wings were spotted by a photographer who might want to use them for a shoot. And then the sad part. I lost a very beautiful present someone had given me, which meant a lot ot me. It fell when I was out riding. It was resident in my ear, but it was a seed and a pearl, so hopefully where it fell something will grow that someone else will take pleasure from. These are the joys and perils of a winged life on the road. But you never know what seeds you are going to plant...

cantle respite

I find myself yet again on a train and as I have been absent from my blog for many days, thought I should write some words down. For the last few days I have been surrounded by giants in the highlands of Scotland. One officially classified a giant, redhead, six feet 8 inches, kiltwearing Scot. Amazing. Another giant in the spiritual sense, he has a lot of authority in the realms many don’t have any idea exist. One other giant in the world of perception, communication, business. An influencer of influencers and hugely insightful. I was rather little in comparison, but I am slowly learning that comparison is futile, everyone is different, and it is great to have the opportunities to observe learn and develop. I can certainly try to grow in the giants’ direction.

I also learned that I am perhaps a wizard(ess?) stroke warrior huntress (these are psychological terms I am told but I thought them marvellous). Imagine my delight when I was diagnosed as such. Not only a wing wearer but a Wing Wearing Wizard Warrior Huntress. Oh goodness that does sound rather as though I have lost it but I assure you I am still in one piece. I think this is what happens when one is exposed to raw landscape, deep thinkers and much space to give vision free rein. So anyway, I have had my eyes opened again to the complexity yet simplicity of life and the value of good friends. Doors continue to open.

The last few months have been action packed and lots of things have happened – I can’t write them all here, but I hope that my discipline in writing will become stronger and I will not leave it 2 months before my next entry…

So long. (or not…)

P.s. how many of your grandmothers have been arrested aged 84?

dragon slayers and lost wings

well. at last i have a little (and it is little so please excuse spelling and grammatical errors) window to write. last week i got to hang out with a real live dragon slayer which was amazing. can you imagine? he slays dragons. Very well I think judging by his character. But he doesn't give away many secrets, so I am yet to discover the most effective way of engaging in this activity. Maybe I will just leave it to him.

However, on the train with this dragon slayer my wings lying carefully folded on the luggage rack, I became so engrossed that when we arrived at our destination, I forgot to pick them up. Yes. Forgot. Oh my goodness. The aspect of the whole thing that fills me with shame however is that I didn't realise I had mislaid them until 3 days later...just shows you that I am away with the fairies for the majority of my waking hours. I think because I associate wearing them with in London and not so much in norfolk, I just forgot. I must have been rather distracted. So, on my way to the other station I travel from (totally different line to the one I had left the wings on) I was hit by the gut wrenching feeling that I may have lost them for good.

I have faith however. And I somehow knew they would be recovered.....So I arrived at the station, with not very much time to spare before my train, but managed a dash to the customer services office, to see if they had the phone number for the appropriate lost property office. I went up to the desk and asked for it, then added as an aside that it was because i had lost me angel wings. 'angel wings?' said the lady. 'Yes' said I. And she disappeared into a cupboard at the back and re-emerged with - you won't believe it - my wings! How amazing. There are even angels looking after my wings. I am not sure how they had traveled across counties, all I can think of is that all the lost property on that train network is collected into a central place. But she said usually they would have gone straight into the lost property which is in a different place, but these were so interesting that they kept them in the office. Well the moral of the story is to keep your property interesting so that if it gets lost it doesn;t end up with all the other lost stuff. Then the funniest thing happened. One of the guys in the office said 'I just want to show you something'. I said ok but my train leaves in 3 minutes. And he brought out a photo of a man in unfiorm sitting on a red motorbike and wearing them...so so bizarre. and I asked if I could put it on this blog, but had to have a quick conversation with the person in the photo (who was incidentally in a pub watching the football - we phoned him) to ask permission. and he gave it. so that is the story behind the photo.

And i still managed to get the train to manchester for a party. On the way back down, i ended up sitting on the opposite side of the aisle to 4 youngish people, all engrossed in their ipods etc. They sat in silence as many do for the first probably hour of the journey. Then somehting broke the ice and they started talking to each other. I was quite intrigued to listen and partly wanted to engage but also wanted to close my eyes and be. they

Marcel (actor, once in Grange Hill, age 26, really good heart)
William/Will (rah hair, studying economics and development i think in London. quietly confident and good fun, 22)
Katie (works for a national newspaper, very vivacious and frank, lots of life, 24 (? cant remeber))
Emily (Graphic designer with very sleek gadgets and a chocolate look a like phone. Perceptive girl, 22 as well I think)

So they are all quite creative people, it was interesting to listen to them. Then Katie spotted the W's and asked me what they were for. I was still quite in my own world so she had to press me but we did all talk and it ended up being great fun. They asked a little about the people i met, why I did it etc. Then the funniest thing happened. I was asking god whether he wanted to say anything to any of them and I knew it was Katie. And within a few seconds I was pretty certain what it was. But aware that I didnt was to say anything out of order, just as I was wondering whether I shoudl divulge, we pulled into a station and I saw 2 bill boards next to each other. Unbelievebaly both carrying an almost identical message to what I had just been thinking for her. So I just had to say them. And her response was very open and it seems like the words were pretty accurate, so I really hope that they plant something in her.

That was a great train journey, and I wonder if I will meet any of them again......I reckon so, at some stage, but we'll see......

Tomorrow the wings get their first outing to another country, I wonder how they will fare.....

slacking

I have been rather bad at updating this - things have been very busy and my feet feel like they haven't touched the ground for the last couple of weeks. I have some really interesting things to write about but not enough time this morning, so to pique your interest, here is a picture....perhaps you can try and guess the story behind it...

p.s. I was very surprised to hear from someone that there are a few comments on the blog...I really thought apart from a very few people no-one has seen it. I haven't read them yet but will do....

anonymity

I think that is how it is spelt? But in any case that is what is shrouding me at the moment...I have spent the last few days in Belfast, Northern England and Scotland, sans wings. 1. they were quite bulky for me to take on the plane, but also 2. I left in a bit of a rush for the airport and kind of also forgot them. So I am having a little rest from the angeling. However, some of the people I have met have been in touch and I am on my way to meet one shortly....Freedom is an incredible feeling, and I think by being free it helps others to realise they can be free too....

burning the candle at both ends

Well. I actually don’t know where to start with this posting which (just to warn you) will, I suspect, be the longest yet. Some quite extraordinary and Super Natural things (and some not so extraordinary things) have happened in the last few days and it is very exciting to have been in the bubbles where they happened. London is a jolly big place where millions of people live yet I think I have been seeing in the last few days that we are all quite connected in many ways to the people around us – almost as though there are invisible threads between us and those we come into contact with through seeing or talking to or walking past them. Perhaps that will make more sense by the end of this….

…….on my way from Liverpool Street Station to the hen party I was going to, I walked along the underground platform and noticed a reasonably familiar back. It turned out to be a great friend’s brother who had just had a day of accounting exams and looked exhausted. He is one of those people who has such a goodness and genuineness about him and I loved the chance to talk with him for a few stops on the tube…unexpected meetings are so great. The next day something similar happened. I went for supper with a friend in a part of London I have never ventured to before. After I’d left, and before I got on my bicycle, I noticed a guy crouching over a de-wheeled bicycle and thought ‘I recognise you’. It turned out to be a guy who had been on the course I did and university and whom I hadn’t seen for about 4 years. We had a really good talk there in the road and I realised that I have changed so much in the last 4 years. I knew that he was seeing something very different in me to what he saw in Durham…

The following evening held the first of 2 very eventful and exhausting liaisons. I decided to go and meet up with some friends in Brixton. On the way I walked past a group of exceedingly cool looking guys posing against a wall and having their photograph taken. I guessed they were probably in a band and were having some shots taken for a website or something. Spot on. Anyway as I walked passed they caught a glimpse of the wings and they asked if they could use them for a picture or two. So I said yes and they did a bit more posing (it is so funny to watch) and then I had a wee chat with a few of them and they invited me to their gig. They are called lunariot. I had never heard of them but then I have never heard of most people…After hanging out a bit with my friends, I was in the process of unlocking my bike, about to go to the gig for a little bit, but then I got into a conversation with 2 guys who were sitting outside the pub…they seemed to be intrigued by the wings on my back. I would love to write every word in our conversation (and believe it or not I actually took notes – more than 8 pages!) but that would be too much and in any case my reproduction of it would not do it justice. So, the gig was forgotten. One of the guys was a sculptor and gardener which I got very excited about. Now this is incredible. When he began to describe the sorts of very unusual swings he makes, I realised that I had seen a picture of one of them in a magazine (a vogue fashion shoot – which he confirmed they had done) and had put it on my inspiration board as I thought it so beautiful. And here I was meeting the guy who designed it….amazing…and he was rather taken with the wings especially because he has been thinking about how to incorporate wings into some of the swings. He is one of those people who has a real depth and insight into the world, much more so than a lot of people, and he and his friend and I talked for about four hours. His friend was, I found out, a Christian and absolutely lovely. He was meeting the swing man for the first time, a family connection….Anyway, we talked about so many things, the earth and creation (‘we cannot live by concrete alone’ was one particularly good quote from one of them), responsibility to the environment, faith, breathing, dredlocks, (his were 8 years old) lifesaving techniques (sometimes someone drowning has to be slapped otherwise their freizied strength can drown both themselves and the one trying to save them.) We talked about Ghandi and how he said that though non-violent resistence is the best course of action in unjust situations, if this is not possible then of the 2 remaining options, violent resistence and submission, the former is preferable. Angels were another topic, magic, meditation, metal work and refinery, reformatories, alchemy, communes, scrap heap challenge, prince Philip and the queen, how art and fulfilled expression can heal people, engaging with the world rather than hibernating, being shot at in Mozambique. And then we did a little imagination journey which was great fun and we talked some more about wisdom and symbolism and horses….and about language and how it might really be possible to have very similar beliefs only they sound different because they are described in a different language…by the end of the conversation, Swing Man was wondering if in fact he did believe…And I think he does. Just to conclude this little episode (which had left me realising how much these sorts of things bring me alive) there happened in the pub (we were now locked in) to be a girl called Shirley who had seen me on my bike earlier in evening as she travelled along on the bus through Clapham. And we chatted about angelic beings and having different spectacles through which to view the world…I got home at 3am, jolly tired but jolly full. There are so many connections.

I realise that this is rather long but there is more…! Just a few little ones – I was phoned at lunchtime by a friend whose family I have known since I came to London. He drives a lot in town and he called to say that he had been in the car in Belgravia and saw this winged object coming towards him….then he had realised he knew the face to which the wings belonged. He thought it was very funny but it just made me realise you never know who is going to see you….I then had meetings in the City but on the way back, coming down the river on the embankment, a guy on a motorbike slowed down, put up his visor and said – ‘Hey, its you with the wings again’ – he was the Australian I think I wrote about when I began this diary, we had had a conversation below Big Ben when the traffic lights were red. I will probably see him again too…We had a little chat but then he zoomed off – the cars on the embankment go very fast and probably don’t like people holding them up to have a conversation.

So. Exhaustion was setting in and when that happens I go to Battersea Park for a little lie down and to look at the trees. Which I did. Until I remembered that I had told someone I used to work with that I would drop in and say hello. So got on my bike and peddled off to Chelsea. And had a thoroughly eventful evening - I can't put any more details, but only say someone's life was changed in a very significant way and he is now actively trying to find truth in his own treasure hunt....

Well. That is all for today. I am exhausted from not having much sleep and also spending a lot of time with people who need to be listened to. But when you are experiencing a bit of something heavenly I think it is worth it….

P.S. I was just about to post this up but then remembered the last thing that happened this morning. I had popped out to buy a few things and on the way back I was just thinking that you do never know who you are going to see, who is going to see you, and what impact it will have. As I thought this I saw all the traffic coming towards me pull over to one side of the road and some police motorbikes with their sirens whirring making sure people didn’t move. I think Winged Bicycles are exempt from that sort of activity so I just carried on. And then I saw a rah car coming up the road, and looked in the window as it drove past. It was the queen. So I smiled at her, and she looked at me and sort of smiled but probably also raised a royal eyebrow….

a poem

I have seen flowers come in stony places
And kind things done by men with ugly faces
And the gold cup won by the worst horse at the races
So I trust, too.

(John Masefield)