Strange Dreams and Distant Friends
I woke with a start this morning when the alarm clock went off on my mobile phone. I had been having a dream about a baby elephant chasing a guy along a beach – it seemed completely normal at the time, but looking back was utterly preposterous.
I was somewhere above the beach looking down, and could see the elephant trying to get to the guy – he ducked under a boat in the shallows, and then ran from the surf – the elephant in hot pursuit. Once on the sand, he left the elephant far behind, and slowed to a walk perhaps a hundred yards further on – stretching out a towel, and laying on it among a group of others. Meanwhile, the elephant walked slowly along the beach towards the group of people sunbathing, and began to pick up pace – half running directly towards the man. He spotted it at the last moment and sprang to his feat – holding his towel out as a bullfighter might, causing the elephant to run through it again, and again.
That's when the alarm clock went off.
I stared into the darkness of the hotel room for a few minutes, working out what time I would need to get up in order to have a shower, shave, and reach the hotel restaurant by 7am. I have learned through experience to go for breakfast early – you get to drink your coffee in relative peace and quiet, and not have to fight over leftovers from the buffet. At home I very rarely bother with breakfast, but having ticked the box for breakfast when booking the hotel room, it seemed a shame to waste it.
While eating a hastily constructed egg and bacon roll, and sipping a rather lovely cappuccino, I scrolled through notifications on my phone. One in particular stood out. A distant friend – a blogger – from the other side of the world might be visiting London in March next year – would I be around to meet up ?
'Of course!'
A breakfast time conversation via instant messaging ensued – and the beginnings of a plan to bring two or three bloggers together at a pub in London. It made me realise how lazy I have become with this whole internet thing – I just write my words, post them, and comment on others – it never occurs to me to reach out and actually meet up with anybody, even though I know several of the people I read are within traveling distance.
Anyway. I'm back in my room now, having chickened out of going for a walk along the river. Alongside the river – not in it. I'm not sure why I just clarified that. It's freezing outside. Properly cold. Maybe tomorrow I'll summon the courage, wrap my Hufflepuff scarf around me, and brave the elements.