Lull

Saturday and Sunday, mornings and early afternoons - the town is eerily quiet.  No occasional cars, lorries, tractors-and-trailers or motorbikes to break the bubble of silence - the funfair vehicles completely block centre ville to through or local traffic.

It seems strange and yet a welcome relief from the noise of Saturday night.  True, not as much conflicting music this year, just two, and one drowns out the other…the loudest, with "ecky-thump" music and recordings of announcements, chatter, laughter and girls screaming on the non-existent high-flying 'thrill' rides.

But, thanks to double-glazing and television, for us it becomes more distant, unless we go into other rooms away from the T.V. - and, still without central heating, that is not often or for long!  We watch some drama programmes and then the 25th anniversary show of Later - with Jools Holland., The Foo Fighters compete well with the funfair but we are able to enjoy the quieter moments of Paul Weller, Van Morrison and Gregory Porter accompanied by Jools.

The loudest noise over their p.a. stops at midnight, the quieter one continues until 12.30.  The “punch bag” and two slot-machine arcades are the last to close. A few excited youngsters continue their conversation for another few minutes, then silence settles on the town. We sleep.

This morning, I picked my way, over many trailing electricity and water pipes which drape over the pavements and roads alike, to the boulangerie for our ordered bread and Sunday-special croissants and return home unscathed. 

We appreciate the lull.