That old black magic

I again woke up this morning with the most excruciating headache. I've actually had a "morning" headache every day since Saturday. I have since realised that it's probably due to the south wind. The God damn south wind. Unlike the icy north wind, the fierce east wind or the stormy west wind, the south wind lulls us to the land of Wynken, Blynken and Nod. However, reality invariably gives us a wake up call. And it's this tug-of-war between slumber and wakefulness that wreaks havoc with my head. So, yet again, it was pulsing to the beat of good ol' Stravinsky...

So I was glad that today was Wednesday. Wednesday. My day. My day of freedom. To do what I wanna do and be who I wanna be. Yeah. So I left the house just after 5 and hopped on a tram to the city, knitting in hand and knapsack on back.

I was meeting my niece at the Kras chocolate cafe but arrived half an hour earlier than we had agreed on. So I thought, what the hell, I'll go for a walk to Gornji Grad or the Upper Town, Zagreb's historical centre of sorts. Hadn't been there in a while and it's my absolute favourite part of Zagreb. (If you want to find out more, here's something from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradec,_Zagreb)

So with my iPod switched on and earphones blaring Eva Cassidy, I made the rather steep hike up cobble stoned Radic street, turned at Kamenita Vrata or the Stone Gate with its shrine consecrated to the Virgin Mary, where many a humble pilgrim has whispered their secret desire to Our Lady, me included, went up towards the parliament building where politicians stood in their three-piece suits, BlackBerrys in hand, waiting for their chauffeurs and BMWs to whisk them off to God knows where, onto Strossmayer promenade, also known as lover's lane, where the chestnut trees and wooden benches have witnessed many an adolescent first kiss. I then went to the lookout gazing at the rooftops and (thankfully few) skyscrapers, wondering what everyone was doing at this moment in time, a bit like Amelie but not quite...

Now, I don't know if it's this God damn south wind or autumn or a mid-life crisis or whatnot, but yet again, walking around the Upper Town, looking at the chestnut trees losing their leaves and the wooden benches bedecked with young lovers, reminded me of a time that has long past, an age of innocence, where I too had a first kiss with a special someone who has since become a complete foreigner to me and barely asks me the time of day. And although I would never want to go back to that time, I would like to put a little of that old black magic that I once had in a jar so I can release the slightest whiff of it every so often and feel it again, even if for a moment. Might make the headaches go away too...

I'll leave ya with a lady who could weave that old black magic - Lady Ella: