It is Sunday morning and it has been eventful – one of my hot water bottles sprung a leak and there is water all over the bed. Fortunately it is a big bed and so I can just saddle over to the other side.
I awoke with an old Leonard Cohen song repeating itself in my head. Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye. Of course I just had to Google the lyrics.
“I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm
Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm
Yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new
In city and in forest they smiled like me and you
But now it’s come to distances and both of us must try
Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye
I’m not looking for another as I wander in my time
Walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme
You know my love goes with you as your love stays with me
It’s just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea
But let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie
Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.”
Not sure why that song came to me and it does feel most eerie. There are superficial reasons that make sense. When one stays in a hotel there are constant goodbyes as you meet someone and then they leave for home. But some deeper reasons, this trip has proven to be not just about reunions with friends but with severing ties. A moving on – when one person changes and the other(s) not there can be a fissure. Fissure: crevice, crack, cleft, cranny, chink, slit, groove, gap, hole, breach, aperture, vent, interstice; crevasse, chasm, ravine, crater; break, fracture, fault, rift, rupture, split, rent, gash
A rent, a crevice, a breach occurs and it becomes irreparable. Perhaps, as the song says, you do not look for another to replace the person as it seems that people are not irreplaceable.
On a slightly different note the Sultan left without the Tate book. He had already left when the book was left with his discovered real name. Oh well, I tried.
I busily talk to people in the lobby of this hotel and do have a jolly time. I struck up a conversation with a man and his wife and found I had something in common with the man – knee surgery. But I have so much sympathy for him – his surgery was in June and he is still suffering from pain, taking major pain medication and his knee is still swollen. We compared X-rays and he has a rod that goes down his leg – I do not. So I gave him some advice – take anti inflammatories and we may meet up at breakfast to discuss the situation more thoroughly. It made me most grateful for Dr. Elizabeth Dailey and her team and my continuing physical therapy.
Another interesting group took over from the Crystal Palace team. It is the Ghana Expo Property and Lifestyle Conference – the lobby full of successful looking, well dressed blacks with great enthusiasm. The stated purpose is to “Bridge the gap with the Ghanian Diaspora and educate a wider audience about the vast opportunities of Ghana’s real estate market.” It goes on to say that the Expo serves as a perfect platform by cultivating a platform by cultivating an environment of transparent, professional service and key tips and advice on how to safely invest in Ghana. It is an annual event in London.” I was invited to join them, I shall go and have a look see but Ghana is hot – my Canadian birth blood may not be comfortable there. One must not forget the other hot country – Malaysia. I laughingly gather staff to surround me at the Alix Residences. One addition is a food taster, in case someone wants to poison me, and a public relations director.
Matthew of the Rex Whistler has a special talent.
Me: You actually do a very good job of controlling me.
He: (as he strides off) I know.
Me: Maybe your job at Alix Residences will be A.C. Alexis Controller
He: No thanks. I can do it for a couple of weeks when you come to London but there is no way I could do it full time.
Me: Fair enough. Perhaps you could run the posh restaurant.
He: I will think about it.
All of this, of course is just fun and play. But it is fun to play and have silly dreams and ambitions. It does get one’s mind off the crumbling infrastructure in the United States.
