passing, hot air, wooden

It's difficult for me to pass a leaf like this one on the wet brick, pavements of Tunbridge Wells without taking a photograph of it.



This morning first thing, at 8 o'clock to be precise a hot air balloon appears outside our bedroom window. It is black, with gold insignia and flying very low above the rooftops. The words, "Out of this World" are inscribed on its flanks and you can see a number of people in the cradle. The balloon company of that name, a Google search reveals, operates locally in Kent and Sussex. It offers the public flights first things in the morning and in the late afternoon or evening. I go back to reading Proust and wonder what he would have made of the sight.



A large barrow arrives opposite the entrance to the shopping precinct. It is loaded with what are described as "wooden roses". They appear to be made from shaved pieces of wood of the same size and very thin, stuck together to form a bud shape. They are painted in a number of very bright, unrose-like colours. Not beautiful things, but certainly curious ones. It is notable that a bunch of 12 is considerably less expensive than a bunch of real roses.