As the Wind Blows

In the UK we’ve had two extra long weekends in a row; the Easter long weekend and the Royal Wedding/Labour Day long weekend. If I was a salaried employee I would have been over the moon, instead I spent the week living like the unemployed and losing track of which days were bank holidays, which days were weekends and which days were every other day. For those of you who are permanently employed, unemployment involves a lot time watching day time tv (which is better on bank holidays than normal days), eating everything that is in the house and spending a lot more money than you actually earn, usually on things that will just make you happy for a moment. So you’ll have to indulge me if I spend some time talking about the Royal Wedding as it was one of the few highlights of the week. (I don’t consider going to the Science Museum a highlight even though it's slight more impressive than Questacon if only because of the sheer size of the building.)

Although I spent a lot of time effectively being a dole bludger without being on the dole, I didn’t spend that much time watching the news channels. I think if I had I probably wouldn’t have ventured out on Friday morning to see the Royal Wedding. Luckily I managed to get a space right outside Westminster Abbey before I was completely packed into the crowds like a sardine. And I managed to get enough arm space to reach into my bag for snacks and water and reach above my head to take photos. I could only managed to change my stance every time the crowds surged which wasn’t always before my legs go numb and the only ways of entertaining myself was by playing ‘Spot the Sniper’ on nearby buildings and listening to the remarks of the wedding from BBC radio. I ought to listen to the radio more.

I ended up being in the best spot possible outside Westminster, because the media contingent was behind me and they were nice enough to put up their little tv screen for us to watch the actual ceremony. The reality of what was taking place didn’t hit me until I saw the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (formally known as Prince William and Kate Middleton) on the balcony at Buckingham Palace.  It was only then that I realised I had just witnessed a tiny part of history in the making, something that you don’t realise when being pushed along by crowds of thousands without much control of which direction you are going. But I’m glad I had that moment where I could just pause, (and not be as sardined in as Westminster Abbey,) and fully appreciate that I was there for the historic moment.