Into the Arms of Angels - Part I

Into the Arms of Angels - Part I

“Your father is dying.” The room spins. I am momentarily at a loss for words. It’s like being punched in the gut. A few moments pass. “How long do you think he has?” The kind doctor pauses, before answering. “Not long. A few days at most”. In my head, I remember that It’s Tuesday afternoon.

“Will he make it to the weekend?” “I don’t think that’s likely.” He is sombre but kind. Above me, there is a skylight and through it I hear a screeching sound.

“It’s the seagulls. They’ve built a nest on our roof.” I think to myself that my father would like that.

"Death, so called, is a thing that makes men weep" - Lord Byron

"Death, so called, is a thing that makes men weep" - Lord Byron

After I’ve left the hospital, I feel mentally drained. My mind is cast back to the book I first read in 2018, when my beloved grandmother was dying. Atul Gwande, who is the most extraordinary writer, penned a book entitled ‘Being Mortal - Medicine, Illness and What Really Matters in the End,” It had a profound impact on me back then and his words return to me now…

Caught off Guard - My Father Falls Ill

Caught off Guard - My Father Falls Ill

I am caught off guard when I see him. He looks terrible. I do my best to hide my shock, pulling up a chair, forcing a smile and taking his hand. My father recognises me immediately and seems astonished that I’m standing next to him. He can’t speak properly - he’s slurring his words - nor can he sit up. He is utterly helpless and fights to get his words out…

“Dad, I came to see you.” I squeeze his hand tightly and he responds in kind. Then he whispers, almost inaudibly, “Get me out of here…”

A Summer that Quickly Turned Sour

A Summer that Quickly Turned Sour

It had been a great trip back to the country of my birth but, six weeks later, I was ready to fly home to Tel Aviv. On my penultimate evening, longing for some British pub grub I met up with two old friends in a local tavern, where we ordered fish and chips and pints of beer and enjoyed what was a perfect summer English evening. Hugging them goodbye, I said I hoped it wouldn’t be as long before my next visit. What little did I know was in store for me.

Opening the Loch Gate - Commemorating the Workers of London's City Basin...

Opening the Loch Gate - Commemorating the Workers of London's City Basin...

The canal continues onto Kings Cross, Camden Town, past the London Zoo and Lisson Wide before culminating at Maida Vale (where that stretch of the canal is fondly referred to as ‘Little Venice."‘ For hundreds of years, workers moved people and goods along this waterway, not without risk either (severe storms could be perilous) and being able to work the boats in all weathers and tides was a job that required skill and knowledge. Many of them lived on these boats…

Bunhill Burial Fields - a Cemetery in the City...

Bunhill Burial Fields - a Cemetery in the City...

Bunhill fields burial ground was first used in 1665 and remained open until 1854; in this time period historians estimate that 123,000 people (approximately) were buried here. By the time it was closed, it was actually considered to be a health hazard! The name ‘Bunhill’ is derived from Bone Hill Fields - archaeologists have discovered that the area was used to bury the dead as far back as Saxon times…

Wandering in East London and Discovering its Jewish Past...

Wandering in East London and Discovering its Jewish Past...

Because of industry, and a boom in the furniture and rag trades, Shoreditch (and the areas close by - including Brick Lane and Spitalfields) became popular with Jewish immigrants, Having arrived in England with few resources, or even penniless, they moved in droves to the area, taking on low-paid jobs in cabinet-making, tailoring and labouring at the docks. As a result, they needed a place to pray, which accounts for the construction of the Sandys Row synagogue (still active today).

A Floral Feast For the Eyes - Visiting Columbia Road Flower Market...

A Floral Feast For the Eyes - Visiting Columbia Road Flower Market...

There are several things that make this place so appealing, in my eyes. Firstly, the sheer variety of flowers (as I said above). It’s a floral feast for the eyes - tulips, sunflowers, geraniums, gerberas and orchids at one stall, exotic purple, pink and white orchids at another, kitchen herbs and then one with endless houseplants…

"How Good it is That You've Come Home..."

"How Good it is That You've Come Home..."

What have I missed the most? London buses, the familiar red double deckers that I adored as a child, climbing up stairs in the hope of finding a seat at the very front, so I could observe everything from on high. The Docklands Light Railway, which thrilled my nephew as a child, as it was driverless. The markets - Portobello for antiques, Columbia Road for flowers, Brick Lane for vintage and Camden for pure nostalgia…

Remembering Harvey

Remembering Harvey

We had a rapport that people remarked upon. We could talk to each other about so many things and the fact that he was 30 years older than me was irrelevant. Harvey was erudite and yet modest about it. He was a prolific reader and well-informed about art, music, history, philosophy and science. But he was also emotionally aware, a man who took women very seriously, actually a man who secretly believed women were superior to men…

Vibrant and Vintage - Retro Images of London's famous Underground

Vibrant and Vintage - Retro Images of London's famous Underground

Wandering aimlessly through Covent Garden, I walked inside the doors of the London Transport museum and found myself in its gift store. There, I found an enormous collection of vintage Underground posters - colourful, vibrant, dazzling. Having taken the tube from a young age and, now living abroad, buying a couple of prints like a fine idea. After all, there’s nothing like the Underground to make a Londoner feel warm and fuzzy!

The Grandeur of Regent Street - London Under Lockdown

The Grandeur of Regent Street - London Under Lockdown

I am stopping to notice things I never did before - ornate facades, beautiful stonework, the glamour of the…street and - as I’ve said before - its magnificent, sweeping curve, of which I could never tire. There are few others here and they, like me, are amazed. Some are walking in the very centre of the street (normally, this would be akin to taking your life in your hands), in search of unusual photographic opportunities…

"Say His Name - George Floyd" - Because Black Lives Really Matter

"Say His Name - George Floyd" - Because Black Lives Really Matter

Last week, I forced myself to watch the video of George Floyd’s last minutes staring, in horror, at the screen as he gasped for breath, pleading for his life, whilst a police officer knelt on his neck (and three other officers stood by, compliantly). Enormous tears rolled down my cheeks. Tears of fury and tears of shame. Because what I witnessed was a modern-day lynching - a white man depriving a black man of his life, in public. It’s that simple…

The Curious Case of the Abandoned Pick Axe - North London's Parkland Walk Part II

The Curious Case of the Abandoned Pick Axe - North London's Parkland Walk Part II

And then I catch sight of - a pick axe. Yes, you read me right. A huge pick-axe, slap bang in the middle of the pavement. Steve and I both stop dead in our tracks. We stare in astonishment. This is a peaceful-tree-lined suburb where the cheapest houses go for over a million quid. This is really not what you expect in such a genteel neighbourhood!

Silence in Soho - London's Most Lively Neighourhood Has Fallen Quiet

Silence in Soho - London's Most Lively Neighourhood Has Fallen Quiet

Soho is now silent. Its streets are practically deserted. Cafes, restaurants and bars are shuttered and, in many cases, boarded up. Much like Oxford Street, Carnaby Street and Regent Street, it has an abandoned air to it. - the odd cyclist, the woman walking her dog, the guy with the camera, taking the obligatory ‘lockdown’ photos…I can count them on one hand as I walk the streets…

Exploring an Abandoned Railway Line - North London's Parkland Walk Part I

Exploring an Abandoned Railway Line - North London's Parkland Walk Part I

On this stretch of the walk, there’s plenty of evidence of the once-railway line - including platforms and old benches. Now, it’s incredibly green and verdant, and you can hear the birds chirping and feel how clean the air is. As you walk further along, you spy real life evidence of the old train line, in the form of benches and old platforms.

"What a Place to Film a Horror Movie" - The Eeriness of London's Underground in Lockdown

"What a Place to Film a Horror Movie" - The Eeriness of London's Underground in Lockdown

As far as I’m concerned, anyone looking to film a few creepy scenes for a horror movie need look no further than London Underground’s Kings Cross.Empty stairs, deserted concourses, eerily quiet platforms, tubes carrying only key workers, of course, elevators that swish and whir along, but with no commuters on them. Behold the beauty of Kings Cross, devoid of people.

Deserted London - King's Cross Station in Lockdown

Deserted London - King's Cross Station in Lockdown

Usually, you’ll see here buskers, hobos, locals and commuters….not to mention the endless tourists arriving and departing. Today it is almost deserted. The streets are almost empty of cars (the roads are usually packed bumper to bumper). Occasionally, a bus drives past (they are transporting key workers to hospitals and places of work). But they have few passengers…

London Town is All Locked Down

London Town is All Locked Down

More cyclists go by. I feel as if I’m in a parallel universe, where the majority of humans have been wiped off the face of the planet and I’m one of the few survivors, wandering through a deserted metropolis. Back on Regent Street (which, incidentally, seems more beautiful than ever, now it is devoid of people) I see someone else (with a mask) taking photographs…