18. Saffron Walden in a Year

 Wednesday 8 July.  Noon.  Cloudy.  Sprinkled for 5 minutes at 10, not cold.

 As I walked across the common, down from Shire Hill, where I had dropped Thomas off at school, I began thinking of how things have changed here in Saffron Walden over the past year. 

 The Waitrose Store has expanded, moving its liquor department to the north end of the store and providing for another access via a stairway.  The coffee and tea store went out of business and the florists expanded into the vacated space.  Several stores in the high street (news agent, Italian restaurant) went out of business.  The Coop changed its name to Leo's.  The vacant large store has sort of reopened; it now houses various sellers of merchandise, sort of like an indoor flea market.  The Saffron Hotel took down its scaffolding and remodelled its dining room.  The model store moved, a salon went out of business on the corner of Church Street and was replaced by a tea shop.  The Indian restaurant up by Debden Road was remodelled and opened, the video store further up the road moved, leaving behind a dead bird just inside, past the mail slot on the floor.

 Cleales remodelled its gas pumps, Blythe and Pawsey moved.  Audley End took on scaffolding.  The Newport Road was widened and resurfaced.  The parking rates at Audley End Station went up.  Dorringtons remodelled (though it's hard to see how), Eadon Lilley doubled its size in the market square.  Hill Street (the main one leading up from High Street to Market Square) then up to Church Street was resurfaced with a new water line put in, together with new pavement and pedestrian (stone) crossings. 

 Two stores opened behind Boots, Gluttons and Saffron Walden Interiors; a decorator store left its spot in George Street below Waitrose.

 The Swan Meadows parking lot began with construction of an access road by the golf course.  Trees were trimmed in the church yard; a clock arm fell off the church tower clock.  One or two small charity shops went out of business, but the Oxfam store opened a books only store.  Adtax and Princes taxi merged and made West Road/South Road their HQ.

 The road into Saffron Walden from Stump's Cross changed numbers, from an A road to a B road.

 One of my questions is whether there is now a better cup of coffee in town?  I don't know.  I gave up after my first purchase.  Perhaps the reason the English drink tea is that they can't make coffee?  The most disappointing thing about England remains its food.  How often do I get my hopes up, only to be more often than not disappointed!  On the other hand, Cathy, thinking the worst is yet to come, is often pleasantly surprised.

 I realize I am entranced by the details of life, all the things I save, seeming to represent the very everyday-ness of life: scraps of paper, receipts, pictures, newspaper items.  They really are the artifacts of daily life, but I keep sensing that I must be missing something.  I'm not sure what it is I'm missing, perhaps the only way to find out is to get rid of all the things I save and see where or in which direction my attention is turned.

 Re Wilkie Collins.  I am at a spot now (p.420) where I am desperate to keep going.  Why?  The pace is a little slow, but these characters you feel are trapped in Victorian situations which wouldn't exist today.  You want to be able to tell them, Can't you break out of it!  Be suspicious, etc.!  So I read on, hoping to speed up our heroine's success by reading faster, getting to the parts where she will get out of her fixes!  4 p.m.

 I was wondering today (as I return to the Book of Job) about wisdom, thinking that wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit is God, is love.  Does that somehow mean that wisdom is tied into God, into love?  Perhaps God's love, perfect love, includes wisdom as one of its component parts?