Not Cruel April

For once the end of April is benign. The weather is lovely, and in the slightly mysterious way that Britain is run these days, the Royal Wedding coincides with three other bank holidays to make this a genuine break, like Christmas, only warmer. On the one hand - its put a break on things at a time of year when, schools aside, things usually go at breakneck speed. Europe goes on as normal, probably a little confused by the slightly arbitrary way we British arrange things (after all, they have a month closedown in the summer), and the football season and other sporting things are in full effect. God knows (and I'm sure he doesn't care) what this does to the faltering economy; but, like when the snow slowed us down, I'm a believer that we're the better for these breaks. Modern life is far too manic at the best of times and this slightly enforced break (which not everyone's making a week of, the fools!)also comes at just the right time. Forget about that date in January that is "blue monday", the endless British winter can sometimes seem everpresent. A bit of sunshine, bluebells and crocuses, and we're suddenly full speed ahead with the effervescance of nature overflowing. Hell, the BBC even give us "Lambing Live."

Avoiding the R**** W******* will be the hard part, though nice to see that even non-royalists have taken it as an opportunity to have a party. It's not just that I don't care about whatsit and thingummybob getting married, I'm utterly perplexed as to why I even should care. The Queen's got plenty of life in her; Charles is forever in waiting; and in the modern world, we're know longer quite in awe of this particular family. In any other context William and Kate would seem like a typical middle class couple, bright enough, but a little dull, whose nuptials were of interest to their family and peer group from university. One imagines the surreality of the royal procession will seem even weirder by being foisted on a couple who, to outside eyes at least, seem hardly able to support the apparatus. Avoiding the whole shenanigans will involve banning the BBC from our house, as its events like this which don't confirm the broadcaster as the best in the world, but as the worst, with all sense of proportion out of the window. I suffered through a half hour discussion on whether David Cameron will wear a lounge suit or tails, the other day.

For me, this week is a rare time without any particular plans. After being away quite a bit, and then not being too well, I'm suddenly looking at an 11-day sojourn without any particular plans, and that alone, feels marvellous.