Saturday, April 28, 2007

soloman's seal, street scene, large coffee

From the downstairs window this morning, I wonder at the drooping green and white bells of soloman's seal polygonatum. The leafy stems have have shot up quickly this year. Or perhaps so much else has been going on that I haven't noticed them. Solomon's seal again at the farmers market, and along side it, though in no way related, dicentra, whose pink and white blooms, different in structure, also hang from long stems, like bells. Its common name is bleeding heart.

In the centre of the town, a bearded man is manoeuvring a large street cleaner, with rotating brushes behind and two headlamps in front. It sweeps and sucks up cigarette ends and other litter. Above the pedestrian way, formerly the beginning of Calverley Road, a banner announces a £75.00 fine for anybody discarding litter on the street including chewing gum. At the entrance to Calverley Road, two men in yellow gilets stand around. Their badges proclaim them to be "street scene enforcement officers".

Outside Costa, Heidi brings me the biggest cup of coffee I have ever seen. "That's a large one," she says. It is like those big mugs you sometimes see in France or Belgium for cafe au lait, except that this one has two handles like ears, very comforting.

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