littlehampton by katharine eastman
Yes thank you for being too polite to ask but indeedy-oh-deedy-daciously I have had a bit of a thrilling day today - and of course I'm aware how annoying I'm sounding if you happen to be attached to an iron lung with just two days to live. But if it is any consolation, I too will be in your iron shoes one day - we all have our turn in that bed, falling to our deaths. But my god, today, the weather - surely the beautifullest October day in southern England ever - no wind, no cloud, warm, silent.
So yes I got the train over to Ford, which is near Arundel, and then I walked up that huge strange snakey dead-looking river, the Arun, up to Arundel itself, but I wasn't in the mood, so I turned round and went down to the Arun's mouth, ie Littlehampton.
It was at its peak of beauty. Okay - Littlehampton doesn't do beauty. It does do neatness. It is the neatest town I know of - it's like a million elves come out every night and tidy up every garden and touch up the odd bits of flaky paintwork and bag every bit of litter and cut the lawns ... it is a strange place - it doesn't have a lot of character, but it certainly isn't characterless. It is not sure of its identity - it's not quite a "working" town, nor a seasidey town, though the beach at low tide is fabulous, nor a historic town, nor a young person's place, nor for the oldies to come and die ..... it's a Nothing sort of place, but not in a bad way.
Anyway I had my cheese looking out across the sea - sitting on Britain's longest park bench (FACT !!!!!!) - truly the sea was just like a huge sheet of glass - and then I headed east and walked to Worthing. I made one exciting discovery in Worthing which you may know about already, so please forgive my naivete - but in the M&S Foodhall on the seafront I discovered that M&S do their own 100% dark chocolate. From Peru (not that that means a thing to me), and it costs £3 a bar. That's the same as you can get the 100% Montezuma in Winchester. The M&S bars are slightly bigger (100g vs 90g). I haven't tasted one yet. I've already overdosed on chocolate today - any more will kill me just as nearly as those chestnuts did.
I currently eat about three bars of chocolate per day. And that is pretty much all I eat. So for less than a tenner a day, that's my food bill. I've worked out, looking at my savings and my non-existent pension should I live long enough to start claiming it, that I must die when I am 68 3⁄4 . So still time enough to do another couple of thousand albums - hurrah !!!!
Oh and a few words about the music. This is a favourite of mine, I think. It is very different from my real favourite albums (e.g. Society) - it is much more of a crowd-pleaser - yes I have sold out again. I don't even need to beg you to play it loudly - somehow it just plays itself loudly automatically.
And I'm a bit embarrassed about that cover pic - of a boat going down the river through Littlehampton to the sea, taken this morning. The way I've tweaked it, it's come out (not deliberately) all arty and poncey and like I'm trying to get an exhibition of photos in a million-quid-a-postcard gallery in Brighton. I don't know what's happened. Like everything, it's done very fast and then I find I can't undo it, and I wouldn't have it any other way, even if it's rubbish - just so long as it's honest.
music this evening, though it does bear a resemblance to a previous album of mine called "Gain" - photo Littlehampton this morning
