Last week I was in London, and after a meeting was having a relaxed walk to my next. It was a lovely day; the previous meeting had gone well, finishing a little earlier than I had planned, so the gift of time was a pleasant change from the normal swift march.
As I crossed a familiar square I noticed the car in the picture sitting by itself. I waited until a black cab came along so I could get some perspective of size for the picture – this car is small!
The car is a Reva G-Wiz, which a Google search turned up this rather quaint statement, by Autoexpress: “The term ‘car’ is being generous to the G-Wiz. It has the performance of a sleepy vole and the structural integrity of your slippers.’ It is 2.6 metres long, that’s a mere 100 inches – or petite.
In a city, that is often congested, the small size is an advantage and the limited performance probably does not matter. It is also an early electric car (produced from 2001 – 12) so does not pollute, and can avoid the charge most petrol or diesel cars have to pay in this part of London. It also takes up little space so I am sure when London is busier it has the problem of where to park well sorted out – I have seen them parked ‘nose in’.
I have a picture somewhere of one of these cars in another capital city, Buenos Aires. This was also parked at the side of the road, but rather than silver in colour, it was in police car livery. It was also plugged into an electric charging point with the cable dangling down from a lamp post – you can see why it caught my attention! Not the most obvious car for chasing a speeding criminal, yet well suited to heavily congested and busy streets.
As I continued to my next meeting it was interesting to mull over my thoughts.
Interestingly, the more I thought about this casual encounter, the more seemed to surface. It had opened a file in my mind, that was less about the car, more about the images in my minds eye that I had stored. Images so clear.
We seemingly forget things until something brings the subject back to the surface. This can be memories around family, friends, special occasions – and remembered ‘stuff’ relating to our work, where the ‘file’ has not been opened for some time.
Now that kept my mind burrowing around thoughts the South America image surfaced. I have a feeling that was for a reason. Perhaps in future I may need to relax a little to allow the quirk, yet familiar, to remind me of things that I had filled away, possibly, for too long.
And for you, what have you noticed recently that opened a file, put a smile on your face and made you think?
Enjoy what you have surfaced, there may be a message in those musings too!
My best wishes,
Peter
