EXCERPT FROM SARA'S
JOURNAL
October 2, 1998
Highgate, London
Highgate is a maze of Victorian houses and vast, hilly parks. We are on
our way to have a visit with Helen's little brother David and his wife Angela. We have
spent the afternoon at the Museum Of Natural History looking at stuffed hummingbirds, rock
samples and the Blue Whale. Now it is the peak of rushhour and The Northern Line is a sea
of pushing, frowning and sleeping commuters who see fit to nudge their way to the middle
of a very long lineup at King’s Cross. Noteworthy is the greasy-haired older
gentleman who won’t back up to the end of the train. Rich is the last to squeeze into
the car and I imagine myself in Tokyo with the "pushers" who are employed to
shove people as tightly as possible into the trains. We barely make it. All of these
people are crammed into the car at the doors and the man at the end has got a good five
feet of space around him. He is seemingly absorbed in his crossword and doesn’t look
up to see that there is a mauling going on in front of him.
Little Wilfred is very shy at first and does not remember us from his
trip to Canada (as expected when you’re four). Edwin is a busy teletubby
look-alike. He laughs in the tub while Wilf gives us an impressive bubble-blowing
demonstration.
David and Angela drive us to Crouch End for some Pad Thai. David’s
big news is that he has just purchased a scooter and is mopedding to work, which shaves 45
minute from his commute. The scooter is a week old and so far he is quite pleased.
