Flame on

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

There’s actual perpetual flame in this picture. At least I’m pretty sure there is...

Yesterday morning we went to see the Olympic torch get carried down Ladbroke Grove (just steps away from our front door).

In the snow!

We got to see the torch—even though we were tardy—because moments prior to our arrival on the scene, there were some shenanigans involving a bicycle and a fire extinguisher. The upside (for us) was that they hustled the torch away somewhere and then re-staged the run-by a few minutes later, this time surrounded by an inner ring of Olympic officials (blue jackets) and an outer ring of Metropolitan Police officers (fluorescent yellow jackets).

So there you have it.

Another moment in history...

Sirens

Sirens have taken on a whole new meaning here. You hear or see a bunch of police cars and ambulances speeding in a particular direction. Everybody notices. Everybody notices each other noticing. We know we're all thinking the same thing: what now? Yesterday I visited the Russell Square tube station (still shrouded in white plastic sheeting) and Tavistock Square (you'd never know except for the pile of flowers and book of condolences). Maybe I wasn't paying attention when the bombs went off, but the Tavistock Square gardens are dedicated to peace: the victims of Hiroshima; Gandhi; conscientious objectors; the "International Year of Peace" (1986). Every tree, rock, and statue is a monument to peace.