On Paddington station there is a display stand of the latest Dyson must-haves, and two or three Dyson ambassadors dressed in regulation black. This is new to me, and for a moment I wonder whether they haven’t enough room for him at Olympia or Earls Court.
People momentarily pause on their way from, or to wherever they’re going, and are temporarily seduced by a fan without blades, a slim vacuum cleaner for people who live in small spaces, and other such modern marvels.
People momentarily pause on their way from, or to wherever they’re going, and are temporarily seduced by a fan without blades, a slim vacuum cleaner for people who live in small spaces, and other such modern marvels.
Having just heard the helpful and informative message over the station tannoy that thieves are operating in the area, I stop for a moment to fasten the zips of my gaping shoulder bag.
I look up as woman walks past. She is tall, attractive, has blonde curly hair and is elegantly dressed, but she has no arms. Her hands sprout from her shoulders, the right one holding onto the straps of her shoulder bag – perhaps she also heard the message about the 'thieves.'
I am reminded of all the people in Cochabamba missing one or both hands, and still don’t know the reason why: primitive farm machinery, birth defects caused by pollution?
But there is no doubt what caused this woman to be born without arms.
I look up as woman walks past. She is tall, attractive, has blonde curly hair and is elegantly dressed, but she has no arms. Her hands sprout from her shoulders, the right one holding onto the straps of her shoulder bag – perhaps she also heard the message about the 'thieves.'
I am reminded of all the people in Cochabamba missing one or both hands, and still don’t know the reason why: primitive farm machinery, birth defects caused by pollution?
But there is no doubt what caused this woman to be born without arms.
---
Che writes: "I now know, by a fantastic coincidence with fact, that I am destined to travel. All the same, there are moments when I think with profound longing of those wonderful areas in the South of Argentina. Maybe one day when I'm tired of wandering, I'll come back to Argentina and settle in the Andean lakes, if not indefinitely at least in transit to another conception of the world."
At some point we must have crossed over into Belgium, because the landscape has subtly changed, to a smaller scale it seems. With the words "if not indefinitely at least in transit to another conception of the world," I glance out of the window to see a field full of scarecrows.
Unless they are mechanically operated – a new gadget by James Dyson perhaps – I assume they are animated by the wind, which of course, being inside the Eurostar, I have no sensation of.
I am listening to the slow movement of Philip Glass’s violin concerto and it seems to me that they are dancing to the music on my eyepod.
Unless they are mechanically operated – a new gadget by James Dyson perhaps – I assume they are animated by the wind, which of course, being inside the Eurostar, I have no sensation of.
I am listening to the slow movement of Philip Glass’s violin concerto and it seems to me that they are dancing to the music on my eyepod.
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