The Needle and the Thread

When traveling, I feel somewhat compelled to follow the tourists and see the requisite sights— the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, what have you. But my favorite days are the ones in which I simply wander, walk through random neighborhoods absorbing the sounds, sights, smells, tastes. I don’t look on my phone to find the best restaurants nor figure out which bus to take. I peek into cafes that I pass by when I feel hungry, ask directions of strangers when I need some orientation, pop into a bookstore to browse or peek into a church. I love figuring out a city’s underground Metro system, be it in Tokyo, Paris or London. Of course, I always am drawn to parks and am quite content to sit on a bench and write in my journal or just watch the passing parade. 

 

Yesterday was such a day, an overcast drizzly one that found us walking alongside the Thames, watching pelicans and swans in St. James Park, popping into a lunch place that had the most delicious grain salads and the friendliest waitstaff. We sidestepped the throngs around Parliament and Westminster Abbey, threading through some charming side streets, took a peek at Buckingham Palace remembering some scenes from The Crown. Joy of all joys, I passed an organ on the way to the Underground that was available for the public to play! This was my first instrument (I started to study it at 6-years-old) and though I haven’t played it forever, sat down and played Bach’s Prelude No. 1 doubling the bass notes on pedal and then a 12-bar blues with the pedal as a walking bass. Heaven! Exactly the kind of serendipitous travel that you can’t plan for! 

 

Our one concrete plan was to go to a Textile Museum that my wife Karen had looked up and that was another unexpected surprise. It was a revealing look at how textiles have not only brought beauty, affirmed cultural identity, helped us survive in various climates, but how the needle and thread gave us the ropes, reins, bands and gut strings that are necessary to ships, ploughs, carts, musical instruments. How the Jacquard loom led directly to the computer. How weaving patterns inspired QR codes. Truly fascinating! When I get home, hope to look into a book they had for sale titled: The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World  by Virginia Postrel. 

 

Today another day ahead with no clear plan except a vague idea of finding The Golden Eagle Pub where I stumbled into my first job playing piano in a bar for a few days back in 1973. I did look it up, it’s still there and now the puzzle of how to get there, with preference for a double-decker bus. Some hopes they’ll let me play a tune for old-times sake, but we’ll see. And at 8am, there’s sun out the window. Better hurry!