Spumoni!

An excerpt taken from my journal, written in the park!

Cat and I got spumoni today. There’s a temptation to just say that and leave it there, but I think this is a novel tale worth writing down.

There was much debate in my heart today about the choice to go to Windsor with a group of friends today. When I had almost made up my mind not to go, I asked Cat what her plans were. She mentioned a park a good ways away and I asked to join, eager to have something to do that would distract from my fomo. Of course, I’m always read to embark on an adventure orchestrated by Cat. We went to war with the dryers of the laundry room, then made our way out. The adventure went something like this.

We first made our way to Joe and the Juice, in search of immunity-boosting smoothies. I got a “Stress Down” and she a “Joe’s green mile.” Juices in hand, we took the Picadilly line and each read our own books until we got off at Arsenal. We walked up the windiest tunnel, then made our way through the most charming neighborhood to get to Finks.

It was so quiet.

You never realize how loud South Ken is until you’re in a town where most everybody bikes. It was one of those days where all the people you see are beautiful. We ordered two sandwiches: a courgette on focaccia, and a ceaser chicken bacon on sourdough, splitting half each, eating on glass plates outside in the sun on mismatched chairs.

Then the spumoni.

We cheered when we found the sandwiches in the icebox, chatted with the baristas, and ate them under the awning and on the way to Clissold park. At the park we saw fallow deer, budgies in cages, a child’s birthday party, and a bench dedicated to “Jennie Buckman/ as a parting glass for Nana Jen / fun, unfiltered, captivating, and kind.” People here roll their pants up to capris to let their shins soak the sun, wear red eye glasses, and let their dogs roam without leashes.

I didn’t see Windsor castle today, but I saw a jack russell round the corner and pause for his girl to catch up, panting in the sun and waiting for her. I won’t see Italy or Spain on this trip, but those ventures will come another time. Places like this will never be so accessible. I can’t see every corner of the UK, taste every ice cream in Europe, but today I had spumoni.

The storytelling element of this entry is a bit different from my others, but it’s directly what I wrote on that day in my journal, sitting with Cat on a bench.