Day 2753
Tuesday October 27th 2026
Winchester
Not as warm as yesterday but sunny, at least, and the flower seller’s alley is free. Casandra drops by, unsure of the 12-string –
‘Is that a new guitar?’
‘Yeah…I’ve been playing it for a while, about a year.’
‘Is it more…challenging?’
‘More challenging? Well, I don’t know…it’s a bit different.’
‘Well, I’m not a musician…’
She then changed the subject and started talking about the weather – always a trusted escape route when things are looking like they might get a bit awkward.
‘It looks like we’ve got four days of clear weather’ she says.
‘Yeah, we’ve had a bit of rain but…we had nothing for over a month in the summer, remember?’
‘I know, we need the rain but if we don’t get enough it won’t get down to the roots of the trees…’
Anyway, getting back to the guitar. Casandra obviously prefers the sound of the 6-string but I always reckon you like what you’re familiar with. I mean, Casandra has heard me play for years – maybe even since when I started, and that was with the 6-string electric. Now, if I’d started out with the 12-string and suddenly switched after 15 years, I bet she would have said more or less the same thing as she just said.
A woman ties her brown dog to the pillar just outside the door on Marks & Spencer – it’s the only door that’s working at the moment. The dog barks every second apart from when someone pats it on the head, but when they go in the shop it starts barking again – a bit louder, as when someone comes out the door. This carries on for what’s probably only fifteen minutes but feels like an hour. The homeless bloke on the steps in the alley behind me is going ‘Woof, woof…’
The woman eventually comes out, unties her dog and walks off. A minute later, another woman comes along with a dog but slips the leash over a four foot bollard a few feet further from the pillar the first woman used. This dog sits down, is silent and because it’s tied a bit further away, is not an obstacle to the people entering/exiting M&S. I think that’s what was distressing the first dog, as everyone was coming into contact with it but it was pining for its owner. But what do I know? about dogs? Bugger all, that’s what!
Someone I’ve seen about lately – a man clearly in “transition”, walks by. From a distance of only a few feet, he could easily pass for a woman, with long hair, breasts, a skirt. In fact, I thought he was a woman the last few times I’ve seen him but today he comes up and his five o’clock shadow (or whatever they call it these days) and deep voice are a giveaway. But anyway, he/she’s got a keen eye –
‘I like your Paul McCartney jumper!’
‘Well spotted!’ I remark, because it’s almost completely hidden by my scarf and leather coat. ‘It’s the same as what he wore in the Magical Mystery Tour film.’
‘Yeah, great!…keep playing!’
A few minutes before I pack up – I made the two hours but the hands were really starting to feel the cold – a Filipino(?) man on the bench opposite comes up and puts three pound coins in the case –
‘I will not listen to your music for free.’
‘Well, thank you!’
‘You do Tears In heaven, Eric Clapton?’
‘Ah, no sorry…but I can do the end of Layla, the piano bit. I played it half an hour so I’m well rehearsed.’
‘OK, thank you. I’m a Christian believer and will not listen to your music for free!’
‘Well, I wish everyone was like that, I’d be a millionaire…well, maybe not! but thanks.’
He stands in front while I go through the song (or “piece” to be more accurate) which I always find unsettling.
At the end he gets a fiver from his wallet, puts it in the case and says ‘I will not listen to your music for free. I’m a Christian believer. I’ve just been in there (M&S) and bought some trousers for six pounds, and I’ve given you eight pounds.’
‘Wow, so that means I’m worth more than your trousers. That gives me something to think about…thank you!’
‘OK, I can see your hands are cold and they are shaking. Have a good evening.’
As he’d given me eight quid, I did one more for him, La Vie En Rose, then after he’d gone, Bond to finish off (as it’s a shorty).
Coinage was good, £37.90, including my Christian’s eight quid and three fivers.