Paddling pools revisited

2nd September 2016

A day late….

As the rules state 2 images for this week.

East Tilbury stole our hearts many years ago. It was one of our first train roulette rides and an epic success. We spent the day hanging out in a suburban cul- de- sac with a group of young girls on roller skates.  Painted with beautiful freckles and oozing with character we were captivated by their company for hours. On the train back we flicked through our numerous Polaroids and debriefed on the goods that Tilbury gifted us with. We made a pinkie promise to return in the summer when we had heard rumours of streets lined with paddling pools.

It seemed only fitting that after such a long pause we were destined to return, only this time aiming for Tilbury town.

Dressed in all black we were equally unprepared for the heat wave and as ever weighed down by monster backpacks. We trod slowly immersing ourselves in every inch of Tilbury’s atmospheric surroundings.

Two men sitting randomly in their front garden facing the busy road and watched nothing. Both had incredible eyes. Sharp, deep and ice blue. They were friendly and the scene was blue with a random display of objects, bikes, cans, hats, and jeans. We chatted for a while about nothing in particular and took their portraits. They were friendly and indifferent to the request, almost as if they knew it was going to happen.

After 40 minutes a post office provided us with air con and it seemed a few of the town locals had also dived in to muse over some manila envelopes just to relive themselves from the sweltering heat. I can honestly say it’s the longest I’ve ever willingly spent in a Post office not wanting to leave. The irony.

After more traipsing and great convo, the heat still strong, we still felt a tad dissatisfied… something was missing. We turned the corner and there it was. Our scene. Our paddling pool tableau. Tucked into the corner of the estate front garden these kids on the summer hols were insatiably entertained by a large plastic paddling pool filled with inflatables. Heads emerged and disappeared. Karate moves were being practiced and soon a gymnastic display (with mat) began. We smiled with glee and went in for the intro.

oao x