Sinister: How to make things happen and a london picnics

[Sunny set]

The idea is always the start. The dream, and the handful of hopes, that is 
the start. Sometimes two people have the same idea independently. It binds 
together there lives with silver strings. String so fine that it is 
invisible to the eye until hit by light of a low lying sun on a summers 
evening.
Its just so happened I was having the same ideas as someone else and with a 
lot of luck we eventually met and started to share these ideas. Plans were 
made and things beyond our imagination took place.
The idea I had was planted in my brain by a boy in a far off place. On grey 
days, on crowded buses I would dream about green lakes, and beaches with 
shiny pebbles and mountains that touched the sky. He painted my thoughts 
with so many colours that knew I could no longer stay in one place. I wanted 
to visit the country he talked about so I started to save my money and look 
at airfares. But saving money and looking at airfares takes some time and 
with time I came to realise I would not be able to visit the country with 
green lakes, beaches and mountains.
But I still had my idea. And other places have beautiful things to see. And 
now not only did I have my idea I had some money.
I conferred with a friend and my plans changed. Maybe a plane trip to the 
north of Italy followed by a train journey through the country? It might be 
a nice idea. My dreams turned to stops in small-unknown towns, mornings 
lazily travelling whilst watching an ever changing view. Drinking the local 
wine, meeting people along he way, returning home with tacky souveniers, 
stories to tell and memories to comfort me in dark winter months.
Two months before we were due to go my friend confessed that her saving was 
not going well, and that she was not allowed to take any more time off work 
this year. Things like that make going travelling a little bit difficult.
I was disappointed, and although I still had my idea and my money, my hopes 
were fading fast. I clung to the word from my mum.
"I'm sure you will find someone to travel with you, you never what is around 
the corner"
Somehow my mum just knows these things because as it turns out she was 
right.

One Friday evening, after a week where everything had gone wrong, I met 
Dimitra. We talked for a while before I told her about my idea to travel 
that summer. To see something beautiful. To make my dreams become a reality. 
Dimitra told me she had been having similar ideas.
She invited me to Greece and I invited her to Scotland, we talked about the 
Bennicassim festival, and about watching belle and Sebastian. And then, out 
of nowhere, a plan was formed.
She should visit Scotland and together we would travel to Spain. When she 
said "but we will have to travel by train, I won't be able to afford it 
otherwise" I knew it was the plan was perfect.

You never know what is around the next corner, but believing that there is 
something is a start. And how can it be a bad thing to hope for something 
good?

I left Dimitra on an underground train, around 8.00am, in Paris. Our plan 
had not only worked but now we had new ideas.
Dimitra should come back to Scotland. I should visit her in Greece.

Dimitra found a flight that meant she could come to Scotland in December. A 
little while later Belle and Sebastian announced a gig in Belfast!
I couldn't contain my excitement and bounced about impatient to discuss the 
news with Dimitra. I tried to remain sensible: how would we get there? Where 
would we stay? Would Belle and Sebastian play in Glasgow too? Maybe it would 
be more sensible to wait a little longer before buying the tickets. But 
being sensible doesn't always result in the best plans being made, so, we 
bought tickets as soon as we could. Then set about solving the other 
problems. One of which, after the announcement of a Glasgow gig, was
"which gig should we go to?"
To which after a bit of giggling we decided: "Both of course!"
Now, I also had the idea that maybe we would see the band travelling from 
Glasgow to Belfast. Not so much an idea… more an idle daydream. And it's a 
funny thing, because as soon as you start making your ideas happen, some of 
your dreams decide to follow suit and make themselves into reality on their 
own accord. On a grey morning at small Troon station my dreams decided to do 
just that. One minute I was standing in a puddle at the bus top and the next 
minute I was on a bus to the ferry with the band.


In March this year Dimitra will be 21. Yet again we needed a good idea to 
make a special thing happen. Neither of us could afford to travel all the 
way from one city to the city where the other person lives, but as it 
happens, London is situated almost half way between Dundee and Thessaloniki. 
Not in terms of miles, I will grant you, but if you compare the length of 
time and price of a train fare from Dundee to that of a plane fare from 
Greece you will find that they are very similar.
Now it is Dimitra's Birthday on the 24th of March… I don't know about you 
but I think it would be a very nice idea to have a picnic to celebrate 
sometime that weekend.
By a nice coincidence Belle and Sebastian announced tour dates in the UK 
shortly after Dimitra had booked her flight to London. I'm telling you, if 
you ever want Belle and Sebastian to play a gig near you, invite Dimitra to 
come and visit. It's a sure thing they will soon announce gig somewhere near 
you a few month or so later!
We have booked our tickets for the London and Edinburgh gigs. The two that 
are most  sensible to go to. I'm secretly hoping though that somehow or 
other we will end up going to Manchester as well. Anybody fancy giving us a 
lift either either to or from Manchester? A space in the Band's tour bus 
will do nicely too. We are not fussy Neil even the boot will do…

You might think that is the end of the story?
Its not. It's important to keep having ideas. It's important to keep trying 
to make them happen.
Life doesn't always go as you want it to. It is impossible to be happy all 
of the time. But If I am ever feeling sad or lonely Dimitra reminds me:
"Just think about exciting things, dream about the good things in life"
You have to start somewhere. After all the idea is only the start, and 
making the idea just a fraction of the story. It's the unexpected surprises 
that happen as offshoots of the initial idea that really make life worth 
living.

Take Care,
Rachel








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