A trip to the dentist yesterday meant a brief discussion later about wisdom teeth. I was interested to learn I still had one, and it reminded me of what happened to the other three. One, I had out when I was 17. A friend’s dad worked at Dungeness power station, and he drilled a hole through it on some clever and powerful machine, so I could wear it on a chain around my neck, which I did for several years. The other two came out on April 17th, 1993, and they were extracted in Forest Gate, East London. I remember this date for a reason. It was a tricky operation which took about an hour in the chair, and which required stitches. The following Saturday, the 24th, I had to go back to have the stitches taken out. My appointment was at 11.30, and I was sitting on my patio (in Dalston) at 10.30 biding my time, when there came a great rumble and boom. My chair skidded back a little way, and I knew something somewhere had exploded. I found out, on my way to the dentist, that it was the Bishopsgate bombing taking place two miles south of me, which is how I know the date of the dentistry business. Anyway… After my checkup, I walked along the harbourside and back up the Kali Strata…
Which will probably be the first and last time I do that this year, certainly at midday. I can happily walk up the road to the top without stopping or having to sit down, but steps? Not so sure these days.
It may not look like it from that photo, but the harbour was busying up as the day boats were coming in, though people weren’t yet at the lunch tables. The sea was calm, and there were several private boats in too. I didn’t walk along as far as where they are building a new cemetery near the petrol station… (that’s how the translation came out, I think it was a mistranslation of jetty, or pier, container port, something nautical like that).
In other non-news, we watched a live recording of Barnum on YouTube last night and it’s as much fun as ever, and now, I am listening to the soundtrack from the stage version of Life of Pie, with music written by my old mate, Andrew T Mackay which you can find on Spotify or by visiting that link. That’s it. I’m off.
