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    London at a Glance

 

      London is magical, whimsical and very much surrounded with fairies and the likes of Harry Potter “things.”  Busy as a bee, and full of little Potter like red buses, bouncing around, hitting the brakes, gathering their load, and taking off again.  Always on time.  For others, little black cabs with yellow lights who negotiate the narrowest of streets and appear to dare the like coming toward their way for the part of the street they need.  The taxis take pride in their driving.  Pedestrians, well, they just know better.  They are considered a better score than pigeons or the piece of a fellow taxi.

 

     The church bells from St. Paul’s Cathedral dance around the city like snow gently falling all around.  When not in ear shot of the church bells, the live Opera singers who dance around the Covent Gardens keep one mesmerized and at peace.  Even as skeptical as I am, I was swept into the light.  Just an outsider, looking in, and without seeing the transition, before I was already “in.”  Everywhere you look, the city pleases the eye.  Flower shops bountiful with flowers pouring out onto the streets and other vendors and merchants peddling their wares, neat and organized.  Very busy, coming, going, selling, buying, walking, chatting, and most importantly, living.

 

      My first stop before I went to any of these places was "Boots" the "Eckerd" or "CVS" drugstore for the UK.  Boots had to most remarkable products OTC and most were simple, that we have here--but are not allowed to be used for purposes as broadly as the UK.  So, I discuss that first in the film.  What is simply OTC. 

 

     Oddly, all at once, after the city reaches its peak of skuffle, it is quiet.  It is dark by 5:00 PM, at least in the winter, and soon after you could hear a pin drop to the ground from anywhere in ear shot.  The city rests for twelve hours exactly before everything starts all over again, on time.  Like clock work.  Unimportant to all of this, seems the fact the London Bridge is now in Arizona.  I thought they were joking.  They were not.  It was sold to Arizona and moved brick by brick, as I was informed.

 

     Culpeper's and Napier are considered the two oldest and most respected Herbalist in the world and these two companies just merged.  Basically, Napier famous for their Compound blends purchased Culpeper's famous for their Tea's and Tinctures.  It was a marriage made in heaven, and as they will tell you, "created a force to be reckoned with."  I was shocked they not only took me in with my camera, they appointed me a guide for the day who did not mind being on film.  I was almost overwhelmed with the amount of information I was receiving. Thrilled was not the word.  They even took me to lunch so I could absorb some of it before we resumed filming. 

 

    While in London  I also visited the SoHo District for Chinese Medicine and was able to glean new "finds" from their approaches also.  Beyond being exposed to the Herbalist and Chinese Medicines and simple OTC the UK itself, I found you could not help but have a good time in London.  As serious as I can be, I was laughing at the "Fairies" and neat way they look at things.  A brief tour of LUSH and where Bath and Body Works was founded, also reminded me to use more dried petals in everything I create--when possible.  They are truly artists and this also went down in my journals and home in my heart.

 

~D.R. Dolen, London, Gracechurch, December 3rd, 2005

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