It is therefore with a certain feeling of guilt that I put digit to keyboard again, to carry on where I left off.
As I stated previously August is the political "close season" and, as such, I should in theory have more time during that month than normal to post up my news and thoughts. We know however that nature abhors a vacuum, and into the vacuum created by the relative lack of meetings during August stepped not only the need to make a living, but also the usually vociferous demands of two children who have been enjoying their last summer holiday before entering senior school for the very first time.
Doing the family thing provides one with an opportunity for reflection that is often absent when engaging in political business. At Legoland I had plenty of time to reflect upon how a normal person would view somebody who happily paid £36 to ride on a bus in the full knowledge that it would not arrive for two hours, and that the journey would then last for no more than four minutes before terminating at the exact same point from which it had departed. However as the day progressed I was privileged to be able to enjoy the same experience no less than four times, reassuring me that at just £9 per ride I had received real value for money.
More fulfilling, for me, was a sunny day spent in Brighton. Ever since, at a late age, I learned to drive a car my use of public transport has fallen woefully short of my advocacy of it. It came as a pleasant surprise to discover that, with a bit of luck in arriving at the right station at the right time, it is possible to travel from Isleworth to Brighton in less than one hour and twenty minutes (in other words considerably less time than I had spent standing in the aforementioned queue at Legoland!).
Despite the tendency these days towards holidaying abroad there is still a unique appeal about a visit to an English seaside resort, and Rosie and Joe (above) were not noticably inconvenienced by the experience.
Rosie now has embarked upon one of the most daunting journeys she will make - through senior school - and Joe reports for duty on Wednesday. It seems like no time ago at all that we were pushing them along in the distinctive, elongated Swedish twin pram that announced our arrival to the neighbours.
In the meantime for me it's back to the world of meetings, doorstop agendas and political parry and thrust which seems to have become my lot.
I'll do my best to keep this blog updated as I go along, and as always your comments and observations would be most welcome.
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