Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Penguins in Trees and Sartorial Cusps

After flicking through The Observer's Free Guide to the Top 50 UK Garden birds, I got momentarily excited when I spotted what I thought must be a rare British breed in the park today. I zoomed in to discover it was a toy penguin - a 'baby' one with fluffy grey plumage. Someone had lodged it on to a branch, as if it were real. There was a lone tea bag and some sawdust on the grass near by.

Hugh slept through our gentle trundle, thus missing the Glasgow landmarks and the dim and pleasant January sun. Earlier I had chatted on the phone to Stuart about the moment that winter turns to spring. Yeah, he said... the cusp. When he was in New York, on such a day, someone shouted at him, 'Hey faggot, take off the jacket!' Today Hugh was still in his cream furry all-in-one suit and a polka-dot bib. Somewhat camp until Spring crawls closer then...

-C

3 comments:

Sue Jackson said...

How funny about the toy penguin! Your walk on a sunny winter day sounds nice. Today was icy and rainy here. So sorry to hear about Stuart's lovely experience in NY - that's what gives Americans a bad name. We're not all like that!

Sue

P.S. I LOVE those little all-in-one suits for babies! I do miss those days sometimes...(though not the sleepless nights)

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for teaching me a new English word...the cusp. Beautiful, already it's rhythm has power inside it.

nmj said...

I love the New York quip, it made me smile. I also feel a wee pang for the Botanics (and its toy penguins, fabulous!), Princes St Gardens is all very well, but it ain't Glasgow.