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Places that soothe

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unheimlich manoeuvre

17:44 / 22.11.04

through my late teens to my early twenties Canons Park, near Stanmore, was my Place-that-soothed. the original country house is now part of Noth London Collegiate and most of the grounds are neglected. there is a temple and a walled garden both of which are listed. good times, the park was often deserted.

18:10 / 22.11.04

Abandoned places, for me. Anywhere that was once suffused with life and activity, but the people have moved on from. I think this is related to having spent a lot of my childhood in the desert southwest of the U.S. - there are more abandoned places than inhabited and active ones out in the desert, it seems.

Strangely, just being out in the wilderness doesn't feel as comforting. These days you always run into people, even in the remote wilderness, but people tend to avoid the abandoned places.

18:53 / 22.11.04

Another shop for me, but in this case it's the amazingly bourgeoise (sp?) John Lewis cookware department. Maybe it's because at university I and the friends I cooked with used to go to buy things we needed for different meals in times of great stress -I generally find it calming to think about all that I could cook with the different things they have there...

Also, the railway station where I grew up, because it's in such a beautiful place. It's on top of a cliff, and away from the main road so it's really quiet as well. That, and the fact that when the train comes it means there's a day in Edinburgh and not a wee village ahead.

21:09 / 22.11.04

For me, when i get a chance, its the city centre on a super busy afternoon, i just turn my brain on auto and drift through the crowds absorbing neon, letting the shouts and mutter of others conversations float through my head. Sometimes i like to imagine the buzz and the flash of the city rubs off and lingers on the skin like tinkerbells sparkles

14:40 / 24.11.04

Just to confuse all those people who think that I and Anna de L are the same person, I have to agree with both her suggestions. I took a couple of friends who'd never been to the Tate Modern to the Rothko room a while back -- even in the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday, with hoardes of people, it was still incredibly peaceful.

I really like to sit next to flowing water. One of the things I love about London is that the river is tidal. I can sit on the Thames foreshore and watch the tide for a couple of hours at a time, sometimes.

St James' Park or Regent's Park -- somewhere where there are lots of ducks and geese to watch. Anywhere where there are animals to look at, really (except I often find zoos sad). I can spend hours upong hours watching fish, so I love aquariums ( despite this, I still have not been to the London Aquarium).

And, a bit like BarbeLillith, I like big supply stores. I actually really like browsing those big DIY/home improvement places.

15:26 / 24.11.04

You like DIY stores? Something tells me you haven't bought a flat yet. The very thought of going to B&Q brings me out in a rash these days. All those wizened men in red aprons, with their names - Rab, Billy - written on their chests in marker pen. "Oh, it's easy," they cry. "This is what I use at home."
Aye, sure you do.
I just found a chill out shop this afternoon. Jordan Valley foods - it's a deli/ middle eastern shop in Edinburgh, full of gorgeous yummy stuff. I spent ages bumbling round looking at stuff.

Fuzzy the Bunny

15:27 / 24.11.04

My area of finding peace of mind is also a stretch of railroad tracks. In just 3 miles either way from where I used to be able to enter the track area, it leads to lakes and trails and wild areas, and to urban areas as well.

The railroad company has been very stubborn about mending cut fences lately however **sigh**.

16:02 / 24.11.04

Oh, of course I haven't bought a flat. I rarely visit those places (maybe once a year), which is why I find them so interesting.

16:52 / 24.11.04

Climbing up Arthurs seat, finding a little nook and looking over the city has been a favourite for a while now.

There is a little pub I like to go to for a full Englis breakfast in Bristol. The food is good and, more importantly, arrives quickly and they always have the papers. Have sometimes shared that experience but not the same.

At home. The beach. I rarely go home except Christmas now. It is always blowing a gale and an hour march up and down makes you feel as if you have been massaged and sand blasted inside and out.

18:25 / 24.11.04

My days of solitude are when once or twice in maybe 2 months I will catch the bus from Sheffield to Hope, from there walk to Castleton, from there to Odin Mine and up a tiny little vale barely anyone walks up ever, then walking to the top of Mam Tor and chilling out with food from the Greek Deli, then walking over to Hollins Cross and Lose Hill, and back into hope again.

Bliss.

10:34 / 26.11.04

All this talk of beaches reminds me of where my family used to go on holiday when I was small. Poppit Sands in deepest Wales. If I had to define peaceful that would probably be it, sitting on the beach in a gale, wrapped up with welingtons on, daming up a river that came down onto the beach until it filled up and I could let all the water rush out. Walking along the beach in the teeth of a gale was fun as well, as was getting back to a warm mug of tea afterwards.
[/nostaligia]

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