Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Helicopter


I stopped by Homebase after work yesterday and bought a big terra cotta flowerpot for our convalescent fig tree, along with some potting soil, a pruning saw and some other odds and ends. What I didn't fully consider was how I was going to get it all home. I was on foot, and struggling with the big, heavy flowerpot -- until memories of Africa came to me and I hoisted the pot onto my head. Then I didn't have any trouble at all. I probably looked pretty funny walking up Finchley Road, though. Some street photographer needed to seize that moment.

Dave was working last night, once again, so I had a peanut butter sandwich for dinner and watched "Chinatown," an old favorite which I haven't seen in years.

This morning I woke at 5:30 a.m. (after a good night's sleep, thank god!) to hear a helicopter circling over our neighborhood. I went out into the back garden to check it out, and it was definitely a police chopper with flashing lights -- and then I thought, "Well, gee, maybe I shouldn't be outside!" So who knows what that was about. I tried to check out the news websites but there's no mention of anything.

Life in the city!

(Photo: A lost mitten, Hampstead Heath.)

12 comments:

  1. The cops are searching for a rare fig tree that was purloined by ruthless horticultural criminals earlier this month.

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  2. Nice mitten!
    Nice image of you toting your big clay pot on your head!
    Wonder what was going on this morning. Let us know if you find out.

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  3. Sometimes I see pacifier on the sidewalks, so sad. I can very well remember the noise of a crying toddler.
    Maybe the heli was trying to find a dement old lady who excaped from a nearby nursing home? But well, that early in the morning?

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  4. I can just picture you with that pot on your head, walking up the street.
    I used to hear police helicopters hovering overhead all the time where I used to live but, I don't hear them as often now.
    What a cute mitten. I bet someone is missing it.

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  5. Helicopters using Nightsun search lights are a weekly occurrence where we spend winters in Tucson. It used to be interesting, now we just wish they would fly higher and make less noise.
    It's truly a pity no one was there to photograph you with the pot on your head. I hope the fig survives.

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  6. When I lived in Cape Town my five year old daughter was fascinated to see people carrying things on their heads (we saw one lady with an huge TV balanced there. It was awesome!) My daughter then took to carrying our newspaper home on her head, much to the amusement of the local tribespeople. It certainly helped with her posture though. We get loads of helicopters flying over us here in Norfolk because we're right in the middle of the East Anglian Air Rescue area. We always wave on the off chance that it's Wills. I'm not sure why!

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  7. There are probably many people talking about the guy with the flowerpot on his head. What I say about myself is, "It helps to be a little bit crazy".

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  8. What an excellent solution to the pot problem! Glad you had a better night's sleep.

    I always wonder about low-flying helicopters, too. I wonder about anything out of place, actually. As I see it, it never hurts to be paying attention!

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  9. Yes, you with the pot on your head in Merrie Olde England would be quite a sight! It's good that you're doing so much to save your fig tree. Hope it works.

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  10. Oh, yes. Chinatown -- such an incredible movie and portrait of Los Angeles and the rest of southern California.

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  11. Thanks for the visual - and that is a really great solution!

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  12. haven't had a helicopter circling my neighborhood sine I moved out of the city. it was a fairly common occurrence there. and terra cotta pot on your bald head? nothing to cushion it?

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