“I awoke this morning to the sound of a cat retching”

Thursday 10 May, 10.30am (Lightyears HQ, Riverton NJ, USA):
Tony tells me that he awoke this morning to the sound of a cat retching. I mean, he probably didn’t know it was a cat retching at first. I suppose the retching of a cat could sound like a whole host of other things, especially if it was dark and you didn’t necessarily expect a cat to be in the room with you in the first place. Nevertheless, upon waking – and slowly registering that he was lying on the living room floor of the house belonging to our American hosts, Sue and Katy – Tony squinted through the darkness in the direction of the retching sound to find Katy’s beloved puss, Dinah, worryingly far along in the process of honking on my trousers.

I wasn’t wearing the trousers at the time, I should add. I wasn’t wearing any trousers. This is because I was asleep, and blissfully unaware of the furry creature convulsing at my feet. I therefore count myself all the luckier that, at the end of it all, my trousers remained unsullied (thanks to Tony, who engaged in some kind of last-minute wrestling bout with the cat to avert disaster).

Anyway, returning to the subject in hand, I guess this was Dinah’s own special way of saying “Welcome To America”. For here we all are, The Lightyears + Team, being warmly embraced into the great New Jersey bosom in anticipation of our upcoming 4-state tour of the East Coast. We have a day off today to help us acclimatize to Eastern Standard Time and later tonight the self-proclaimed “Lightyears US Fan Club” are taking us for Cocktails At Sunset on the banks of the Delaware River.

Thursday 10 May, 9pm (Banks of the Delaware River, Riverton NJ):
I am drinking a crisp, cool Gin & Tonic. The air is warm, the grass is soft and the sun is setting spectacularly over the Ben Franklin Bridge towards Philadelphia. Our friends in Riverton have welcomed us in style, and the mood is high. What a way to spend an evening…