Our PA Marta has recently learned to drive, so today Lyn and I went for a short trip with her. We just went to one of the local parks, but one where we don’t often go because it is rather out of the way. The park in question, Oxleas Wood, is on a hill and has an amazing view of south London: I reckon you can see beyond the M25 and into the farmland beyond. When we got there, we settled down outside the cafe there to admire thee view; I noticed a few army trucks behind a ringed fence and, assuming it to be some kind of fair, paid it little heed.

A little while later, though, I noticed there were some heavy duty guns there. ”Holy shit,” I thought ”what is this about?” Half aghast half excited, I pointed it out to Lyn, who stated what I should have realized: these were the defenses for the Olympics. No less excited, I spent a while watching the antiaircraft gun swivel automatically, robotically following planes across the sky. Call me a big kid, but part of me wanted the thing to suddenly fire, yet I know, of course, that had that happened, it would herald something far from cool.