Time goes by

It's very strange, as I've probably said before, to return to the city of your birth after many years away. Things change but stay the same, reviving long lost memories from another time.

Today, I went to see my acupuncturist (to control my stress about Friday's hospital visit!) and, after that, decided to go into the city. When I returned to the area where I grew up, I expected to visit the city regularly but, as it turns out, I only go there around three times a year, and then only if I absolutely must.

Given the rarity value of this trip, I decided to have lunch in a department store restaurant that I used to go to as a child with my grandparents and parents. The name's changed, and the location within the store is slightly different but, essentially, it's the same restaurant. In fact, it might even be in the original location - things look different when you're a child! Anyway, things really haven't changed so much - though the food has improved immensely. The Palm Court Orchestra that played while customers ate has gone. The ladies in fur coats have gone; they have, however, been replaced by 'ladies of a certain age' who are extremely well dressed and could be labelled 'ladies who lunch'. Having spent 20 years away from this great northern city, I'd forgotten that people used to get dressed up in their best clothes to go shopping 'in town' - they certainly didn't bother in my last city of residence. Today was like stepping backwards through time; the 21st century and its inarticulate and ill-kempt inhabitants were racing past outside, but in the restaurant, all was as it always has been and always will be, even down to the ladies ordering bottles of wine with their lunch! It made me quite nostalgic and brought back many memories of happy times before we all got older and more burdened by responsibility and the weight of the passing years.