One Enchanted Evening

A couple of weeks ago I was in London for a conference with Liz Gilbert (author of Eat,Pray,Love amongst other things). The venue was the Royal Geographic Society, a building at the top of Exhibition Road in South Kensington. This is one of my favourite places in London; the RGS is a lovely, light and graceful Victorian building. Big enough to contain Liz Gilbert’s devoted following and yet small enough to feel intimate and supported. Kensington Gardens was close by and looking beautiful with burgeoning fresh green trees, tulips and bluebells. Exhibition Road is a generous wide thoroughfare with the world renowned Imperial College, Science and Natural History on one side and the V&A on the other. It is worth visiting the museums just for the architecture. 

I am a V&A member so it would have been rude not have visited the members dining room for lunch. The weather had co-operated and it was actually warm and spring like, the members dining room is at the top of the building and has large windows and skylights. So it was a blissful experience (we had a long lunch break), delicious food, a Bellini and an interesting conversation with the lady at the next table.

I was staying with my son and daughter in law and we had planned to go out to a favourite Italian restaurant that evening; Joe text me during the day and suggested we go down to their allotment where they have a table and have a picnic instead. Great idea.
Their allotment is behind a large housing estate in the suburbs. It is a small site but very pretty and the apple trees were blossoming and the glorious tulips were blooming. The site is surrounded by trees; Joe and Aimee have had their allotment for about six months and have been diligently working on it. We sat at a picnic table that they had hauled down there; we were well wrapped up in warm coats and ate home-made pasta salad and nibbles mainly from M&S. The evening sun was low and the light was warm and gold; it spotlighted the tops of the willows at the back of the allotment and they glowed a vivid rich colour.

It was one of those miracle moments and so beautiful. 

We laughed and talked and looked at what everyone else had done with their plots. The sense of spring with all of its potential, the feeling that work put into the earth now was going to reap dividends later was tangible. The time spent in a beautiful vibrant place with people you love was priceless;

This is Enchantment. 

I think (and feel) back to it often: like a touchstone. A reminder that experiences like this exist, are simple and available to all of us. Pay attention to all of your senses, be in the moment. 
Enchantment is smooth and rich and quiet, different to excitement that peaks and troughs. According to Liz Gilbert Enchantment is like the feeling of warm vanilla pudding in your belly or home-made pasta salad eaten al fresco with your loved ones!

*This lovely picture is by Suzanne Jacobs who is a talented local pastel artist; it is no longer for sale as it is on my bedroom wall! It captures for me the sense of the setting sun on the willows in the allotment. My thanks to her for letting me reproduce it.