I love these still mornings. And with no chance of rain. I walk lighter. The students are back. I see evidence of their pre-exam revelling through the kitchens in the various halls (though more like houses) of residence along the Prom, in the bottles of spirits, alco pops and beer crowding the table tops, the disturbed chairs and unwashed dishes. I hear them too. Shouts echo across the town from open windows, taxi ranks and this morning from halfway up Penglais Hill. It’s like we live in a parallel universe. I watched two boys pour out of a taxi outside a house on Northgate Terrace. They walked a few steps then crashed into one of the front doors shouting. The door opened and they were soon inside. It’s the noise they make. It shatters my calm as I walk. Earlier I’d seen a lone skateboarder along Terrace Road. All in black, he sped along, head down, no eye contact. There was that noise too, the sound of small wheels on grainy tarmac. A pulling sound. I brings me back to the nowness, and out of my over-thinking head. Not a bad thing, I suppose. The birds are noisy too. But I love their calls. I walk further just to extend the song.
