Hex

Uncle Arnold and Jenny came round early to pick us up and go “spawning.” It was bright sun and clear cirrus-smudged skies as we drove to Dengates. The heavy rain and sleet over the past few days has left everything damp, the odd deposit of crunchy frozen snow in hollows . . . .
The marsh was quite full for once and we had no difficulty finding big clumps of grey frog spawn, which was everywhere. All the while, Dad and Uncle Arnold reminisced about their distant halcyon schooldays of Thompson’s Dam and fields, farms and fishing.

At eleven thirty, Dad dropped me at Grant’s. It was cold and fresh but sunny as I walked up Fearnfield Drive. Grant was wearing the usual old stained brown trousers, slippers (no socks), torn blue sweater, his hair and stubble looking greasy, and before long I was filled with optimism at all there is to see and hear and do.

We played records and he showed me Ludd’s Mill Nos 15-17 (“The Dance-able Solution to the Teenage Revolution”): articles, poems, features on Kerouac, a pilgrimage tale by an English Kerouac fan I identified with because he says the things I feel. The mags were Beat-oriented, ads for Moody Street Irregulars, Kerouac memorabilia, articles on Burroughs and Jim Morrison’s An American Prayer.

All the while we played Rip Rig and Panic, Pigbag or or amateurishly played the drum kit in the cellar. I stuck my neck out and gave his brother Karl a fiver to buy Pigbag’s LP while he was in town and he returned with that and the new Fall LP for Grant.

The Pigbag album is a shade disappointing but the heavy percussion tracks such as “Brian The Snail” and “As It Will Be” are excellent. There we sat, music blasting, eating the occasional snack, drinking tea, drawing crude pictures and portraits, and reading Ludd's Mill. I'm really enjoying the Kerouac stuff.

Robert and Carol were there when I got back with the new car they bought last Thursday and we all listened to Athletic lose 2-1 away to Ryburn. Depression heavy in the gloomy room.

Later, Robert and Carol went to a CAMRA Beer Festival in Easterby.