IT'S A WOMAN'S PRIVILEGE.....

…..to change her mind!  This morning, I was all set to take a photograph for Flower Friday, then we decided to go up to Jack’s for coffee and as we hadn’t been up there for sometime, when I saw a Father Christmas decoration, thought that might do, so took a couple of shots.  It was also good to meet up with several friends we hadn’t seen for a while.  

After some time I left Mr. HCB chatting to our friend, Trevor, because I needed to go down into the town to buy a few bits and pieces.  Whilst standing at the bus stop, as the bus was going to be another twenty minutes, I decided to walk, but then Denis, a friend called my name. As he was walking with a crutch, I decided that it would be rude to just walk away from him, so chatted to him there at the bus stop and on the bus.  Denis is a great one for words so our conversation was mostly about how we could learn something new every day - and we swapped several words we had learned recently.

Denis was going into the library, so I took my leave of him and wandered down just past the Cenotaph, where I saw what appeared to be some sort of large Christmas decoration with “chaser” blue lights.  It looked rather odd but there was a large sign on the railings enclosing the structure saying “This installation is provided for the enjoyment of town centre visitors” and it also invited people to “Make memories take photographs and upload them to Facebook and Instagram using “@Swindon, #FestivalofLights, #Swindon, and #LEDTrail” as tags.   

There were two men standing to one side looking at it, so I asked what it was supposed to be - they didn’t know, but guessed some sort of “way-out tree” - I said that although it looked rather strange now, it probably looked good when it was dark!  In any event, they said, we the taxpayers, were obviously paying for it so we had better enjoy it!  I told them that there was a very large teddy bear in The Parade and that looked much better when it was dark too, so the younger man said he would take his 3 year old daughter to see it.

Then another man came along, pushing an older man in a wheelchair, and they joined in our conversation.  There was much laughter between us all, and I then asked if I could take their photograph - they said that was fine and posed beautifully for me.  Chris, the man pushing the wheelchair said that Royston was his father, and they had enjoyed chatting and we all agreed that although the “contraption” looked rather strange especially with the sandbags round the bottom, at least the Council were doing something to decorate the town centre for Christmas.

Having said all the above, I decided perhaps I should look online and found out that “The Festival of Lights is a beautiful trail of light and magic for all ages, designed to guide families around the town centre.”  Guess we will have to go round some of the venues when it’s dark so that we can see all the lights.

Walking down through the town, I saw Phyllis, another friend, who has recently moved, so stopped to chat with her.  What a lovely day with some great conversations.

Today I am grateful for:

1.  A trip to Jack’s and meeting up with old friends.
2.  An unexpected encounter with people in the town and some lovely conversations 
3.  Seeing a large Nativity scene in the window of The Entertainer, a toy shop in the town centre, whose owner is a Christian, so they don’t open on Sundays - well done for reminding those passing by of the “real” reason for the season.