May Morning

Like a fool (but not such a fool as to stay up all night), I got up at 4am this morning to watch the Madrigals being sung from Magdalen Tower. It was odd to see people all hurrying the same direction just before dawn, like flocking birds. As always, the singing was an anticlimax, but I did get given a sky blue helium balloon. Afterwards, I watched a group called the Whirly Band who I had seen unfolding musicians from the boot of a tiny old red car earlier. They were all dressed in green motley, had a funny front man, played medieval tunes with enthusiasm while people danced randomly, and had a living maypole lady who got terribly tangled in the ribbons while the little kids ran around her feet. That's all you really need from a band on May morning. There was also a pretty catchy all-drum band, with a pink theme, at the other end of Broad Street. I walked through Trinity gardens and washed my face in the dew, made my way up Parks Road where there was suddenly a brief and lovely glint of sunshine, and picked up a Belgian waffle with strawberries and whipped cream from GnDs. Tired but happy.

Oh, and my Emergency Spoon saw its first action. It did sterling service in the line of waffle-eating duty. An unmitigated success.