Two Jays
Up surprisingly early for a Sunday, and we mooched into town. Lorraine was meeting Isy's teacher sister Lara for a coffee. I went to Waterstones and lurked happily there, trying to keep a lid on my spending, confining myself to a collection of stories by Arthur Machen , The White People as part of my quest to understand the roots of horror. The book has an introduction by Guillermo del Toro, maker of splendid films such as Pan's Labyrinth . In the afternoon I read, The Inmost Light . Excellent. I also take phone snaps of children's book covers that are in a genre similar genre to my own. Walking into town, we stopped to look at a pair for Jays on the pavement, hopping about and displaying to one another. I had never seen a Jay on a pavement, let alone two. Normally shy birds, the fact they did not fly away was unusual. Tangentally, this reminded me of a visit to Two Jays second hand bookshop in Edgware. Needing cash, I took in an obscure book on African philosophy, the...