Something happened this afternoon which I think I need to record here. It was one of those happenstance events which, although unconsequencial in the grand scheme of things, just makes life slightly brighter. I was out on my trundle over on the Isle of Dogs, following the river round. I was feeling slightly sorry for myself, not having slept well last night. All of a sudden a huge gust of wind rose up and blew my baseball cap off. It landed on the other side of a fence on an old dock, and of course I assumed I had lost it. I could see the cap, but there was no way I would be able to retrieve it. It was a shame, because I had had the cap two or three years, and it always seemed to come back to me whenever it blew away.

I was on the verge of turning my back on it and carrying on my walk, though, when a man came walking along the road. He said Hi in a friendly tone, so I greeted him in return, gesturing toward the lost cap. He instantly realised what had happened, of course, and to my great astonishment and gratitude offered to retrieve it for me.

A couple of minutes later I had my cap back, amazed that I hadn’t lost it after all: The cap had proven itself unloosable once again. More to the point, I was once more in awe of the kindness of a total stranger, who had gone out of his way to help me. I offered to buy him a beer in thanks, but he said he needed to take the parcel he was carrying to the post office, so we parted ways. It was just one of those lucky little events which might not really be worth recording, except that it made me feel so fortunate and instantly brightened my day.