n a dream I found myself in London in an area undetermined by name<\/p>\n
I had met a Greek family who spoke no English lost in a bus station near Victoria<\/p>\n
As my Greek was poor and they did not have a second language I lodged them in a hotel and sought out one of my Greek friends in an effort to redress their situation<\/p>\n
But the bus dropped me not at my destination but in a street high on a hill that I did not recognise<\/p>\n
To my left there was a row of shops and to my right a short passage that led to a steep set of steps that commanded great views over London<\/p>\n
As I considered myself lost I decided to use these steps as apart from the shops the street where I had found myself was mainly residential<\/p>\n
\u00a0My descent was mundane but I did notice that a group of people were gathered over a dead bird which had flown into a street light during the night<\/p>\n
At first these people were strangers to me but as I drew closer I noted that they were all employees of Swift & Associates my fathers company<\/p>\n
It is so sad when a nightingale dies<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The streets are poorer for its death \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Its sweet songs will no longer be heard<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I picked up the dead bird and wrapped it in my scarf and promised to dispose of it with a thoughtful appreciation of it\u2019s voice<\/p>\n My father\u2019s employees then faded and I was alone with the exception of a street urchin<\/p>\n When the snows arrive there is no better place for sledging not even Hampstead Heath<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n These steps are God\u2019s gift<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n They are God\u2019s gift<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n It was then that I remembered where I was as in childhood I had sledged down these very steps<\/p>\n I touched a small scar on my forehead which was a reminder of those far off days<\/p>\n My father broke my line of thought as he appeared suddenly in front of me<\/p>\n What brings you to this part of the city Samuel<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I explained about the Greek family and how they had become stranded at the bus station<\/p>\n He looked at me and smiled<\/p>\n When you were a child you always picked up creatures in distress and nursed them back to health<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n But I fear that the young nightingale that you are holding is even beyond your help<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n A few minutes later after giving the urchin sixpence my kind father walked me to his office which was about five minutes distant<\/p>\n To my surprise I found the Greek family in the foyer<\/p>\n They were engaged in conversation with my older brother who spoke Greek fluently<\/p>\n The youngest of the Greek children a girl of about six stroked the head of the dead nightingale and appeared to say a prayer<\/p>\n May I introduce the family of Mr Saint our Athens agent who are visiting us here in London<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Quite why you lodged them in a hotel is a mystery as I gave express instructions for their reception and journey to this office<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And why do you always end up carrying dead nightingales with you when you arrive here<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Our small garden is full of their lyrical remains\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" n a dream I found myself in London in an area undetermined by name I had met a Greek family who spoke no English lost in a bus station near Victoria As my Greek was poor and they did not have a second language I lodged them in a hotel and sought out one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}