Bank holiday schmank holiday

Ah, the sound of an empty house.

Housemate S has had her sister, nephew and two nieces to stay since Thursday. Plus her Quiet Man. That makes for a pretty full house even if lines of communication are clear and things (who's doing what, who's in for dinner, etc) are discussed openly. And round here it's never that simple. Never underestimate the power of passivity.

M and I woke up on Sunday morning, looked at each other, thought 'well I'm not cooking breakfast for eight people', chucked some clothes on and hit the streets. There was a kind of teenage rebellion feeling to it, like trying to find a place to be together when you both live with your parents. We bought the papers, went to the pub for Sunday lunch, walked down strange footpaths in the rain, ended up in town looking for coffee and found ourselves in Modern Art Oxford.

Where we spend a good couple of hours in the cafe but also taking in Wherever I Am, one of the most moving exhibitions I've ever seen. Emily Jacir's Where We Come From (more info about it here) featured lots of places I have been... the view from the top of Mount Carmel brought tears to my eyes. So it was an unexpectedly friendly and interesting Sunday, compared to the one I might have had if I'd stayed at home. It's all relative(s).

Anyway, they've gone now. And there were some good surreal moments, like baking a pineapple upside down cake at the request of someone who turned out not to like pineapple (so it became a pear upside down cake), and M finding his piano keys covered in corks.

joella