EXCERPT FROM SARA'S
JOURNAL
September 26, 1998
London
The grey city welcomes us as any metropolis would, with crowds and
traffic and a long distance between points. The man who drives the taxi is from Richmond
Hill, Ontario. He says, "You can have London, I’m going back to Canada."
James d’Ombrain lives in a walk-up flanked by other walk-ups, on
Devonshire Terrace, at the edge of Kensington Gardens. He is completing a Ph.D. in
Canadian Foreign Policy at Cambridge. James is Rich’s old friend from Toronto.
Together the boys whiled away their adolescence at Coronation Billiards, at the corner of
Avenue Road and Eglinton. Next they landed as roommates at Queen’s University. This
afternoon they reunite like brothers and celebrate our arrival with pints, then vodka,
then singing, shoe removal and a heavy, heaving sleep.
Items For A Mosey
Clothes (a week’s worth for hot and cold), personal items (a
year’s worth—prescriptions, medication, hard-to-find items) long underwear,
slippers.
Passports, driver’s licensees, address book, Palm Pilot.
Camera, 30 rolls of film, digital camera, 2 laptops, transformers,
power adapters, battery charger, network cards and cable, 50 software CDs.
50 music CDs, Discman, headphones.
Guitar.
Eiderdown, towels, bedsheet, small pillow.
Backpack, 2 sleeping bags, 2 Thermarests, small tent, headlamp,
flashlight, hiking boots.
Daypack, first-aid kit, Leatherman, paring knife, utensils, scissors,
can opener, rope, compass, pedometre.
Maps, highlighters, books, dictionaries.
Sketchbooks, pocket-sized watercolour palette, brushes, pens, pencils,
notebooks.
Club Anti-theft device for Alfi.
