I have lived in this town for quite some years, enough to call it my home town, and spent enough time stationary on the roads to have seen a fair bit of the place. Off the main road in particular, nothing is new, nothing is unusual, I am particularly acquainted with the A449. Its often at gridlock if, like me, you choose to get off the M6 at the earliest opportunity and not risk J13 to 14. So nothing about that route is new, unusual, different. Or so I thought.
At Christmas my wife mentioned the penguin. The penguin? The penguin! She was using it as a way marker, a point on the road, like a bus stop, or a pelican crossing, like it was an every day thing. The penguin? I had no idea what she was talking about.
Apparently the penguin is a well known landmark, but I had never seen the penguin, it had evaded me, what was she talking about, there is no penguin on the A449, yes, graffiti regarding Celtic, yes, a red car inexplicably parked in a tiny front garden, but no penguin.
Then we drove the A449 together and I beheld, The Penguin. Now, my eyes are always drawn to the penguin, I nod, nearly salute the penguin, like a magpie, or a policeman. The Penguin is now a not mundane part of my day.
Today I was less focused on the oncoming traffic and more on the penguin. I need to start ignoring the penguin.