slides.wisdom.other

My colleague Andy told me about a website called what3words. For reasons that are largely unclear, each 3 square metre block of the Earth’s surface has been assigned a random three-word sequence. Where I am sitting to work each day in Cambridge has the following words: slides.wisdom.other.

If I was in my bed in Maputo the three words would be reactions.singers.filed.

If I was on the street corner in Manchester where my phone was once robbed the three words would be signal.wisdom.cities.

If I was in the bed I slept in whilst in the compound in Yambio, South Sudan, the three words would be irony.disco.producers.

I finished work, had my usual lockdown early evening shower, and went outside to get some fresh air when it was already becoming dusky. I was tucking into some leftover potato salad when the heavens opened and I scrambled for cover on a bench that happened to be under a tree. I worry that picnic season is winding down, as damp spoonfuls of potato salad on a dark bench are less appealing than lounging on the warm grass on the summer solstice. It’s surprisingly dark beneath trees in the rain. The three words game seems to have thrown up the word ‘wisdom’ more than once. I’m not sure there’s much of it on display here.