Decay

There must have been a lot of people like me - people who don't usually engage, don't pitch in, don't stand out or stand up; the observers and the analysers and the contemplators and the self-conscious. If it's the biggest of all time then, by definition, a lot of the people there don't usually turn up, and they are not used to it, and they are wide-eyed and a little over-awed and not quite sure how to be. And, looking around, you could see it was true; in among the confident marchers and the chanters and the singers and the banner-wavers, were a lot like me - enthused and exhilarated and glad that this time it was different, but still not sure of the words to the chorus or how to be part of such a crowd. Our wise, compassionate, globally-minded teenagers persuaded us to be there; they knew it mattered, and that this time it was different. They were pleased that we came, but I think we were more than just pleased - grateful to have our comfortable routines shaken a little, to touch something real, something hopeful. As I say, there must have been a lot like us, somewhere in the million, proud of our children and proud of ourselves, hoping for difference

In the end, he didn't listen, of course. A million of us, or was it two, walking past Big Ben, hoping he was watching, hoping it would give him pause. I'm sure he had his reasons, perhaps some of them noble. But did he know what it would do? Did he realise the dark seeds he was planting in our hearts, the people like me? The lost trust, the withering of dreams, the won't-get-fooled-again - especially while the same faces are in the back of the room. It takes more than 20 years

This was the turning-point of today's two-wheel circuit. I know I have followers with an affinity for rusty barns, so here is my offering, along with mixed building materials, lines vertical or horizontal, according to your preference and - for those who got interested in the post box on Feb 8 - a VR box. I also saw two GR boxes on this trip, but in very different script; does that mean they are different "G"s? And are there some ERs out there that are not Elizabeth?