Tuesday, March 31
Outside Arcada, 17:15
Today is Irma’s name day, and so I gave her a gift voucher for Emotion as we passed at breakfast time.
It was half-raining, half-sleeting when I left, but only gently. The ground was a mixture of puddles and yesterday’s slush. The wind had given up and gone.
I spent the morning with the CMS group and the afternoon with the XML group. It was National Acronym Day.
I had time to go to S-Market as I arrived at Arcada and as I walked into the miniature mall I noticed a small group sitting and waiting for the clock to reach 9:00. That is the moment the Alko opens and the two supermarkets start selling beer.
I have seen the group of old middle-aged people around for years because they live in yhe apartments a couple of hundred metres away. As I went to buy lunch I thought about how small their world must be, physically but also humanly.
This isn’t a criticism, and nor is it a judgement. They may be having the time of their lives, or be happy and content in their routines. It is a simple observation about the very different worlds we create for ourselves in the same physical spaces, and how little they need to intersect.
Now the day is done and I am outside. The feeble sun has been enough to clear away most of the remains of yesterday’s snow, and this is all that is left.
Naa will be at her photography course when I get in. Irma will leave to buy worm pills for the cat and I will do the ironing. Later I will have a series of sudden good ideas.