21 March 2011

Nick, Emily and I had lunch in Macclesfield. It was a bit of a trial: first Nick's cappucino was made with rancid milk, then they brought me a potato instead of a baguette and were out of Emmenthal, my coffee tasted like third-rate instant and Emily couldn't have juice as it was sold out and then had to wait ages for a milkshake while they went to Iceland for some that had not gone off.

Anyway, we ate tolerably well despite all that. Nick and Emily went and played in the great playground next to Sainsbury's while I spent an hour in wide-eyed wonder scanning the shelves laden with wonders. We had been planning to go swimming but as the sun had come out and Emily was having such fun we just stayed there in the park a while longer then went home. There was one place in the park that was an absolute carpet of purple and white crocuses, which made me glad to be back. On the other hand a small group of teenagers was hanging around in the playground and I felt annoyed that none of the parents could feel safe to say anything to them. I am still referring to Tokyo as 'home' and wonder how long that will last. Once we have somewhere to live and our things around us maybe.

After Emily had her dinner I left her in Pam's tender care and went out for a run with Graham and Nick. We were gone for exactly an hour, and she was well asleep on my return. I was really pleased with my performance, starting strongly and managing to keep up with Graham for the whole 6.5 mile run.