With snow falling on Wednesday morning, I decided to travel early and make my way down to London. Packed with resources, data projector, personal baggage, the car boot also contained a shovel, rope, snow boots, extra clothing, water and ample bottles of concentrated screen wash and de-icers. The forecast was bad and they weren’t exaggerating as the ensuing days proved.
I don’t mind travelling. I enjoy driving and the opportunity to take in the different places that I travel to and through. It also affords me the time to be alone, to pray, think, reflect and prepare both mind and heart for where I am going. Most of my journeys are relatively hassle free. I have learned to treat hold ups and happenings on journeys as almost inevitable and no cause for undue stress or anxiety. I do miss, particularly in these winter road conditions, my old Audi Quatro (for the uninitiated Quatro equals 4 x 4) but with nearly 300,000 miles on the clock and the bills getting more expensive I had to find a replacement. I ended up eventually buying what I thought would be a temporary measure from a friend who was trading in their Honda Accord. I have never owned a Japanese car before and to be honest wasn’t enamoured by the prospect but it was very helpful four years ago. Contrary to expectations I still have the Honda and I love it. It’s the most reliable, easy to drive, comfortable car I have ever owned. It too has a relatively high mileage now, (nearly 160,000) but still purrs along carrying me safely and very comfortably around the country and beyond. To arrive after a long journey, relaxed, is a tribute to Japanese design and manufacture. I was glad of the comfort it afforded me as my trip south took over 10 hours! Poor driving conditions and two major hold ups caused severe delays and I was thankful for the opportunity to make contact with two of our Companions, John and Anne, for a break and an unexpected evening meal before resuming my journey. Arriving at 11 pm, I asked my hosts, good friends, ( well they would have to be to arrive that late!) how long I should allow to travel the 9 miles into Central London the following morning, “to be sure, I would suggest leaving at 7.30 and you’ll be there by 9.30”. I eclipsed their estimations by ten minutes. A car journey that gave me a fascinating insight into the life of London in the morning rush-hour. It used to take me about 10 minutes to travel the 7 miles from home to Nether Springs, the same distance in London at rush-hour required two hours. I hardly noticed a relaxed face throughout the journey. What I did notice was rush, discourtesy and some aggressive car driving. There has to be a better way to live and work and transport people. The next time I am irritated by a tractor that won’t pull over or by a pea brained pheasant dawdling across the road in Northumbria, I will remember my journey from New Malden to Oxford Street.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
