Friday Afternoon in Islington

I stumble on the patchwork pavements as I scan the window of Canal women's clothing chop on Cross Street for that startlingly red dress of the softest and most diaphanous of cottons. It's no longer there and in it's place are the tweedy fabrics of fall. A breeze enviously grabs at my shopping bag filled with a loaf of fresh bakery bread and a couple bars of luxury imported chocolate. Shop windows in this eighborhood are filled with tempting items on offer; designer goods, kitch at designer prices and lots of cafes, restaurants and bars with names like 'Kinky Mambo'. Today is a good day in London. On worse days, I notice instead how horrid it is to be poor in London. In North America, the poorer parts of big cities seem dirty and gritty... in London, they are moldy! And by 'mold' I don't just mean that greenish fungus-y stuff growing in damp corners.