remote cards

I drive round the round about. When I catch a sign in front of the church. How strange I think. It has a home made feel. Some how raw. Is it part of the church? Sometimes people put up banners - 10K run, new cafe opened, Happy 40th Birthday!


I pull in, get out the car and walk back to look. "I HAVE LIVED HERE FOR AGES." I take a picture, bemused with no idea what it means. Walk back to the car. As I get back in, I catch sight of two girls carrying a TV. It is a dodgy area at times, but that bad? I look in my mirror again, watch them unpacking their car. Looks like part of an ongoing process, two girls moving into a new flat. I drive on, but almost straight away I spot the next two signs, and my bemusement grows.



Again I stop the car, having barely made any distance. I cross across the dual carriageway. A wooden fence around a housing estate, a path leading into the darkness of a park. Poorly lit, dipping down a hill, there are voices out there in the distance. A jogger crosses the road, walking, hi-vis yellow vest, as he reaches the path he starts to run again, entering into the night. The first sign must be from Megan, she meets Steph at this point in the mornings. The second sign must be from Steph, who naturally meets Megan here in the mornings. I take pictures again, and return to the car and drive on.



As I continue to drive, now that I have seen 3 of these signs, I am looking for more. I stop at traffic lights a few minutes later. Casually I glance across the road after a moment of waiting for the lights to change, and there, another sign. I fumble for my camera, can I get the picture before the light changes to green? No. I click and miss. Getting through the junction, I pull over for a third time in this stretch of road. I get out the car, and as I do, I spot the fifth sign right across from me. Each sign has been fastened to a fence, this one just before you reach the second church in this stretch. I cross the road, and take a picture of this last sign "WE DO EVERYTHING FUN HERE". That done, I trek back away, determined to get the one I failed to get at the lights. While I'd driven along, I was conscious of an unusual number of people walking along the street - as though they were all heading towards a party somewhere. I cross the sideways line of the cross roads for the last sign - meet me here, then the names of the friends to meet. As I take a picture, I'm conscious of the chatter behind me. I turn and walk back to the car, a group of women walking by it, a group of guys hanging back, one shouts, come on Jamie, fucking hurry up! Jamie, who I can't see, shouts, I'm coming. I get back in the car. I drive home. There are no more signs, but every time I see a fence, every time I see a flat surface, I slow expecting to find the latest cryptic offering.