Pearls

The Adamsdown area of Cardiff where younger son lives consists of small streets of low-cost brick terrace houses built for Irish and other workers who arrived in the booming industrial era of the late 19th century. For reasons unknown the street names were drawn from astronomy (such as Star, Constellation, Planet and Eclipse Streets) or precious metals and stones (such as Zinc, Tin, Gold, Copper, Topaz and Diamond Streets).


Another is Pearl Street  where for the last couple of years this section of wall has been used to create an art installation/mural/message board - call it what you will - "The Pearl Street Blog". Initially  protesting  against the building of a rubbish incinerator in an area with poor air quality already, the wall has gone on to proclaim and  publicize  other environmental and political issues both local and global: Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter, Coronavirus safety and so on, all is imaginative and eye-catching ways.


Today we spotted the current iteration, a collection of quotations and poems  "Words of Light and Hope" from the  6thC. Welsh poet Taliesin to Amanda Gorman of presidential inauguration fame, and including Tony Benn, Meredid Hopwood and Mary Oliver among others.


I really liked this way of bringing words to the street. Some folk walk on by but others must surely absorb the sentiments as they pursue their errands and may feel encouraged or inspired.


(There's a blog that records all the wall's the previous versions.)


In other news, we helped to set up our daughter--in-law's birthing pool for the second time. This time our granddaughter was there to 'help' with this important task: it was similar although not identical to the one in which she entered the world two and quarter years ago. Obviously she had to try it out, a bouncy castle in her own living room! 

Plus Taliesin and Amanda Gorman, side by side, all in extras.