A Meander Along Chapel Street

It's a cool, Saturday morning, and I feel as though I'm not really taking myself anywhere, but the day is pulling me along entirely of its own accord. News of a young boy tragically being killed in a train incident last night has left me a bit shaken and quiet, though that did not stop me last night from arriving at a hotel in Richmond and dancing for hours. We stepped inside The Precinct with no idea what the night would hold in store. it was only half full at the time, but the faint sounds of my all time favourite tunes were plating in the next room and from that moment I was magnetically pulled to the dance floor where we remained dancing sober for hours to a live cover band called Past & Present, featuring an Aria award winning vocalist. Earth, Wind & Fire, Montell Jordan and all the classics were beautifully brought back to life by this Tongan team of tune players and I could not fault the evening. Even though I missed out on TLC perform live here in Melbourne the same night, Past & Present's rendition of "No Scrubs" pulled every woman and her broken heart/unsubstantiated standards to the dance floor for a solid sing along. 

With Elly back at work today, I am forced to step out into this huge city and simply wander. And Chapel Street has been an amazing place to go on a sullen Saturday. The street is buzzing but not chaotic, the people relaxed and the tunes matching this lazy weekend feel. I have just located the long awaited "Market Lane Coffee", where two Parisian friends once worked brewing coffees, making tasty delights and falling in love. They now own their very own highly successful café in Paris' Canal St Martin 10eme arrondissement called Holybelly - the place where I had my last meal in Paris (unless you count that delicious Nutella from the 5kg jar Kristiana had sitting in her kitchen the week I was there. I took one last celebratory (wooden)spoonful the night I left). 

I am wandering around Prahran markets, watching people barter and sell and decide between granny smiths and fujis. I am watching a man craftily slice cheese to hand out to passers by with such finesse you can tell he loves what he does. 

I am thinking to myself as I walk - "what do I do each day that I love, and that makes others love the world in the same way?". Feeling a bit in need of change and being struck with sudden but slowly encroaching feelings of being unsettled lately has done this and I know I just need to sit and reflect, walk and reflect. I have been changing my outlook on myself and on others in a positive way and I want and absolutely need this to stick. 

I smile at the man selling his strawberries. "Let's all take home some strawberries - I'd love to go home" he muses, tired from the early morning. But in his exasperation, he looks up and sees me smiling and smiles back. And that's enough.