THE TILES OF NUMBER 40

Another nice day out there. We’re over the covid of course, but the ol’ hay fever is back. So I still can’t go outside.

Instead I’ve got the test match in the background and a nice view of the sunny street.

I mean I could go outside. I just have a feeling I know what happens, and I’m bunged up enough in here with all the windows shut.

There’s a flock of birds looping in a figure of eight. Why do they do that? Their shadows are long and darting as they swoop over the roof tiles between the chimneys. Then they land, perched on the apex of Number 40. The sun’s overhead.

I imagine the leader just alternates between darting left and right. Maybe it’s a training group, getting ready for the winter migration. Perhaps they’re just stretching their wings. Or perhaps there’s something more convoluted happening to do with magnetic fields or territory, or just a dance of evolution. Or perhaps they just like the tiles of Number 40.

How come animals don’t get hay fever?

I handed my notice in a year ago. I had a feeling it was this time of year, so when I checked, I wasn’t too surprised it was exactly one year ago. It was a similar day too, I think: bright sun overhead, short dark shadows, birds looping. I had nervously explained to my old manager that I needed a change.

Good move? Any regrets? Well I miss some things but not all things, and on the whole, my old job had become a task I didn’t feel I could carry on doing. So, yes. I wouldn’t change that decision. That job had been forced out of shape by so many things - Erica leaving, the company being bought by an American behemoth, one of my colleagues becoming much harder to work with, and lastly the covid pandemic, which reduced it all to a flimsy husk of interactions, tough remote working with strangers in the USA, and a hard slog. I did the right thing.

The Tiles of Number 40. I think it’s just the right aspect to catch that sun. The birds are gathered, perched along the ridge and fluttering on the glinting TV aerial. I guess it’s just wherever those birds have landed. Nice to see them making the most of it.