Happiness is...

.... days that last longer, when the rain turns everything into magic. The fogged window of the bus renders life an impressionist watercolour, softly out of focus, sensations more poignant, the joy greater. Not unlike life without 20/20 vision! The traffic lights glitter dramatically in the greyness, a strange counterpoint to the gentle yet determined new leaf green lining the street, polished leaves dancing against the almost black bark. The Alice like feeling of enchantment unabated even when walking home from Paddington at 6.30 in the evening on a Friday. The canal is almost surreal, the path nearly empty as a 12 minute walk that stretches into a languorous 27 minutes of pleasure, a smile that takes up permanent residence on your face, an umbrella that begs to be twirled even as you laugh at your silliness, stride overtaken by the beat of the ipod that oddly syncs itself to its nearly mystical surroundings....The misty rain teases the calmness of the mirrored surface with its almost thereness, silly birds honking, wings aflurry as they ruffle the glassiness with their indignation, the myriad freshly washed hues of the foliage flanking the the bright colours of the barges..... a reminder of just how much I love the rain, how beautiful life is, and the momentary perfection that alone affords pure happiness....
....Melting into more moments the next day with an unmarred blue sky, the warmth seeping through your shirt as the lazy rays of the sun stroke you, and you forget you're not actually a cat as you curl into your corner of the restaurant waiting for someone to scratch your back. Another leisurely foray up the canal in a different season, one that begs pigeons to be erradicated, duck traumatised and a hissing contest with a malcontent goose type creature. A day that disappears into shared laughter, sunshine, buckets of pnpc and lots of food...! An entire day devoted to nothing, but outdoors... the purest form of loafing, my métier. Life, does not get much better....