In Transit

Ever since I got on my first red double decker in London in the 1960's I have loved to ride on buses.  

This love has extended to having an IKEA picture on my wall above my bed to remind me of my years in London.  The bus is an old Routemaster, not seen in London anymore.  The stairs at the back with a spot for the conductor and no doors.  My favourite seat was at the front upstairs on the right. 

The bus in the picture is No 38 travelling to Victoria. The bus, in red, in the otherwise black and white photo has faded, just as the real Routemasters did. The photo was taken at Piccadilly Circus with Eros and Fortnum and Masons in the background. This No 38 travelling in its own bus lane, so the other traffic, vans, cars, taxis do not impede the travelling public.  I wonder about the photo, when it was taken, there are no clues as to the date.  The people in the photo are too tightly packed and indistinct to be able to guess at their fashion, the cars do not have visible number plates. 

I walked passed this spot so many times out on a Red Bus Rover, going to a movie, visiting Fortnum's or Liberty's or exhibitions at the Royal Academy of the Arts.

Canberra does not have landmarks instantly recognisable, by the world as London or Sydney do, but it has scenery, charm and an energy that you would find in most capital cities.

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Have We Met?

We are social beings.  We do better when we live amongst others, interact with others and do things together.  Talking to strangers has a benefit both on an individual level and on a community level.  It lifts our wellbeing, it makes the places we inhabit safer.

My project for 2024, Have We Met? is going to explore meeting strangers.  I am going to attend a different event, social gathering, landmark or cultural place in Canberra and elsewhere as I travel, and talk to someone I have not met before.  I am going to listen, ask questions, be curious.  The name Have We Met?  was generously, gifted to me by a friend Lynda, who up until the end of October 2023 was a stranger to me.

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