Gripped by the idea that I should re-read Inferno. Dante's opening lines have always haunted me: Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita/mi ritrovai per una selva oscura/che la diritta via era smarrita. This in my old translation reads: In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost. I love the sound of the phrase una selva oscura and the image of a dark wood often comes to me in times of confusion.

Too restless for the boy Dante on the train however, and instead wasted brainspace doing a crossword.

Work fairly tedious today, with a slow meeting all through lunch. I have a persistent cold and sore throat and a bit of a cough so not on fab form. Curiously, however, swimming seems to make me feel better for a bit, and I had a quick swim late in the afternoon, and then bumped into the FB at leaving time and stopped for a quick drink and a chat as he'd just returned from Boston that morning. Told the FB that I am determined to avoid depression over my breakup with MJ. I am doing what I can to stay positive, and friends are helping immeasurably. Anger, I discover, is a wonderful anesthetic.

Listening to Benjamin Britten (copying Mum) as I type this.

The Thames flooding today, and I snapped this person on the opposite bank cycling through the river.