Street Life

... Nah, it's not the only life I know!

I've been thinking about blip, and social history, and the importance of recording ordinary things as they really are, for the generations to come. Also about how easy it is to lose track of friendships when one is working five days a week (only part time, but quite a few jobs...). I've had a positive response to my past two blips, which were both street scenes of a very different nature. All of this has culminated in my wishing to get out on the street more: to overcome my shyness about taking photos in public; to really notice what's going on in my town, and to be generally more visible, as in Stroud it is very easy to bump into friends on the street, and then there's coffee...

Today I was supposed to go to the Anti- Bedroom-Tax protest, but I was too busy swanning around to get there on time. I have been on social benefits at various times in my life, and as a single person I rarely found a one-bedroom flat to live in. There simply aren't enough. So, thinking that people are going to be penalised or forced to move because they are using their 'spare room' for storing a wheelchair or medical equipment, or just for having their kids to stay, is abhorrent to me.

There was no sign of the protest on the street, but I did notice several things:

The resurfacing that I reported on in February is finished, and blends in harmoniously with the rest of the pedestrianised High Street. This replaces the botch-job that the highways department did last year, when they had a little cash left in the pot that they needed to spend before the end of the fiscal year. It cost them dear in the end.

Millets, the camping and outdoor shop that I also reported on, is not going to close after all! Several jobs will be saved. The shop has occupied a prominent space on the street since 1968, so this is excellent news for the local and social economy.

Hot cross buns are 4 for £1 in Greggs' bakery. The bakery was doing a roaring trade, despite the offers of more expensive home made pasties in the Shambles market. Stroud is a market town, and has two Saturday markets: the older one in the background here is the Shambles (an old word meaning market stalls). There is also the Farmers' Market, established 1999, which wins national awards and attracts visitors from beyond the county boundaries. I go there sometimes for a snack.

I was more interested in this busker, though. He sounded good, but a lot of the music was backing tracks. I think the couple in the picture with him was about to buy something: a CD, perhaps? When I worked in Gaia Books, the publishers, above Millets, with a bunch of other 'girls' in our early thirties, we used to survey the street, and when a certain long haired young busker appeared, we'd shout out "Diet Coke Break"" and rush to the window to watch him, in a parody of the once-popular advert. Alas, he is a little more grizzled now, like the rest of us...The other busker I remember had been hairdresser to the stars, including Manfred Mann's Earth band. He was from a well-known local family, and was often seen singing on the street, but unfortunately drink got the better of him, and he died rather suddenly of organ failure.

After taking these shots, and getting some shopping from cheap things 'r' us, I bumped into a friend and we went for coffee in a place recommended by taxi drivers. All the coffee shops, of which Stroud has an overwhelming number, were full! People are trying to keep warm. Even in the sunshine it's still wintry. My friend S had to rush off to Feldenkrais (?) but told me about a social group at the co-housing place where she lives, that is open to all, and serves cake. Got to be worth a try! Following that, I bought the fish for tomorrow's Easter meal, and then came home to find an invitation to eat paella tomorrow evening! It seems we will have a sociable, fish-flavoured Easter Sunday. I must try to go for a walk in the countryside, too.