Journal

VIrgin mural 1, with Homo volans at join between walls Virgin mural 2 – and again Virgin mural 3 Virgin Galactic bike

Virgin bike logo – with Homo volans at bottom

Spent the morning with Ale at Virgin Unite’s offices in Brook Green, talking with a team from Concordia 21. As I was coming in by bus over Hammersmith Bridge, I saw the most perfect heron, standing on a tiny island, its reflection stretching away on the water. Then, as Ale and I walked to the meeting, we passed Phoenix Lodge – and I mentioned that one possible model for the original phoenix was the giant heron of southern Egypt. Then, as we walked into the Virgin reception, I saw the mural showing Homo volans – and later, as we left, we passed a Virgin Galactic motorbike that had an wonderfully elegant rendition of Homo volans through to Burt Rutan’s SpaceShip One. Quite a morning of symbolic serendipity.

Mervyn and Denise Hollyhocks

Spent the weekend in Amsterdam, with the Board of the Global Reporting Initiative. Exciting journey to Heathrow, with a driver who started off as the traffic lights turned from red to green, backwards into a line of traffic. And then his satellite navigation system kept telling him to go in the wrong direction, so I had to keep wading in to correct. Then the security people kept putting my bag through the scanner, because they could see a pair of scissors I didn’t know I had – Elaine had tucked them in at some point. Then I was sitting next to a screaming child on the flight out. And so it went. But the dinner on Saturday and the meeting today both went very well.

Seen and scented

Cavalry 1

Cavalry 2 Cavalry 3

Spotted and shot as I cycled through Hyde Park to work today.

Sam addresses envelopes