Rich Ears

And in the dream, a brand new house, extremely modern decor and layout. Very pretty.

An old witchy friend of mine treats her house as a metaphor for her life and magic, so by her reckoning I'm probably ready for a great change. I've joined the Green Party again, because it seems to be the nearest thing to a constructive political act that I can muster. Night before last I was catching up with a mate down in Woolwich and we discussed what I want to do next; my work is very slow and it's hard working out why, or even if I am on the right track.

'What do you want?' He said.

'I don't know, beauty I guess,' was my answer.

You've done beauty. You've done all the beauty. What comes after beauty?'

'More beauty?'

'Oh for gods sake. So suppose you see all the beauty in the world, what comes after? What do you do next?'

'I don't think I'm going to see all the beauty in the world, am I?'

Look, if beauty's your thing, be an ambassador for beauty. Show people how to live beautifully.'

'Eh? People have their own ideas about what living beautifully means.'

But I do know what he was trying to get at in some ways. If you're about beauty, you've got to create some. I am not sure I am doing that right now. I'll work on that. My energy levels are quite low, and it might help to work out why.

He couldn't quite stop there of course. Somehow my brother's latest narratives about why he went for me had to be recounted. I think at the risk of destroying my mate's vicarious pleasure in the gossip, I might have to put a moratorium on this subject. Apparently it's all about my marrying 'a rich man.' The hubby found this hilarious. It brought back to me my strange visit to a Chinese fortune teller many years ago, who, as well as warning me to make peace with my father, that the devil was all around me and that death waited for me in a white car, stared at my ears for a long time.

'You have rich ears' he said, 'And money will follow you into your house. But you do not understand money and you cannot keep it, so you must marry a man who does. Then the money will stay. You should thank your ears for that.'

While I feel I should also thank my twenty-day-at-a-time 10 hour shifts for that, I'm happy if my ears have helped. I can't help feeling they've been somewhat hyped...

Last night we spent an anniversary celebration with some friends down in Blackheath. A holiday in Tuscany was mentioned and it would doubtless be lovely but we've been to Tuscany, and for all its delights, I want to see places unknown to me. Except for Paris of course, but that's because I still haven't got to the Musee D'Orsay.

Tomorrow we have excellent friends around. We are going to Whitby with them in October, and again it's another place I've seen before. Having said that this hol is going to be about discovering the Yorkshire moors as much as enjoying the little town itself so there will be that freshness to it. But...

Yes Beauty. But also Discovery.