Blue Skies (Smiling at me)

As I walked through the streets of Paddington tonight I looked up at the sky in awe. It wasn’t one of those spectacular red, orange, pink sunsets you would normally describe as stunning. Instead, the clouds in the sky were whispy, almost powdery. It was a sight to behold.

I was in Paddington to help a friend install his new phone.

After a long day at work, I caught the bus late this afternoon. I love catching the bus. Unlike the train where people are always a little conversational, people on buses seem to love a chat. And they love chatting on their phones, in particular.

The woman behind me tonight was obviously trying to organise a meeting with a friend. “Where are you?”, the friend must have asked. “I’m just passing the um…. the ahhhh…. the…. I’m about five minutes away”, she replied as she struggled to name Victoria Barracks, the home of the Australian Army in Sydney.

Her point of reference? “I could get off at the Paddington Inn or the…. ” (as she recalled the names of the different pub stops along the way).

After fixing my friend’s phone, I came home via Oxford Street and stopped in for a bite to eat at Churra’s Brazilian Barbecue. Located the near The Balkan and the new Greek BBQ restaurant, it’s located in what is emerging as a bit of a BBQ strip on Oxford Street. I had a tasting plate which consisted of sausage, chicken, potato salad, various vegetable chips and some rice. It was very yummy and quite good value, I thought at $15.

It was almost eight o’clock by the time I got home. Sticky, humid. It was one of those walk in the door and get your gear off kinda nights.

Jumping online I was confronted with an absolutely stunning photograph of Stockholm on the blog of Sandra in Sweden.

As she describes it…

The sun is shining at last. Both yesterday and today, we are having amazingly sunny days, the kind that make you feel good to be alive. It’s been a while since we had this kind of weather, so yesterday we bundled up in our winter gear and headed out for a long walk. I don’t think I was alone in needing the sun – there were a lot of people out walking and also just basking in the rays.

And to think, I’ll be there in just over three weeks.

“Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture….” (gratuitous ABBA lyric)