October 18th - Day 183

Today I was in a dilemma ("nice cars" as Ted Chippington once said). In the morning I went to church with Claire. That is, we went to a church and stood outside. Guitar music and singing serenaded a steady stream of people, mainly young families, into the church, All Saints in Peckham, for the start of the service. We dithered as the devil looked down upon us...sorry, the devil looks up doesn't he...it's God who looks down. I only had fifteen minutes before having to go and pick up Oliver for his football match, and we didn't want to go inside and get locked in. Eventually I took a chance and entered the building. Claire followed close behind. We spent a few minutes talking to Mavis who was handing out the day's service sheet. I told her we couldn't stay for long, but that we'd heard the music and thought we'd come in and have a look. She was a lovely lady. She asked why we couldn't stay for the service, and I told her it was because it clashed with my son's football. Oh well, another time, she said. She told us she was 82 (she looked in her sixties) and how her life has revolved around this church from when her children were baptised in here (eldest nearly 59). She also extolled the virtues of the church as a place for meeting people, "where the young men meet the single ladies and the young ladies meet the single men".

A couple of minutes later we were standing outside again. Families were still marching up the road towards the building as the congregation launched into "Amazing Grace". And this is the dilemma. I'd like to come back here one day and sit through the whole service to get the full measure of how much a part music plays in this church. In which case, under my rules, I can't use today's experience as "today's music".

With this in mind I went to East Dulwich's Boho Bar in the evening in the hope that there would be music there (and that the singer wouldn't be Lisa Lore who's played here a couple of times and whom I'd already seen!). "LIVE Soulful music tonight" said the sign outside. Inside a young woman was singing live soulful music. Happy, dreamy soulful music accompanied by a guy playing guitar to match. So she is today's music. But I didn't get her name. Damn.

Oh, over halfway now.

boho-bar.com/