Living in London

It is a beautiful Sunday morning in London and I decided to venture out to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. Anyone may turn up unannounced and use this legendary locale to exercise their rights to free speech. Of course, the hecklers can be counted upon to reciprocate in kind. The corner has hosted such greats as Marx, Lenin, and George Orwell.

Although I wasn't expecting any world class orators, I thought that there was enough controversy in Europe these days to at least have an interesting speaker. With the war in Iraq a perennial favourite, Wolfowitz being confirmed as president of the World Bank, the upcoming UK elections and the impending vote on the EU constitution, I was sure there would be something interesting to hold my attention.

To my dismay there was only an aging English bloke who was railing on about the importance of Jesus in your life. He was highlighting the attractiveness of his beliefs by clamouring that taking the narrow road with Jesus would require me to turn away from my friends and my family. I walked away as he was recounting his experience in the Vietnam War when he asked himself the soul-searching question, "what am I doing here?" Apparently Jesus had an answer for him but I didn't wait around to hear what it was.

I wandered south in the park to the Honest Sausage and could not resist. I ordered a Park Porker. Unfortunately it was overcooked and smothered in an unappetizing sauce which leaked all over my hands. I tossed it after a few bites and strolled home taking in the emergence of spring among the flowers and the squirrels and the thousands of revelers. At least I got a good 4.5 miles worth of exercise out of the walk.