It's Sunday, and I'm banned out of the kitchen whilst Sunday roast preparation goes on in there, so I thought it might be a good time to get started on my update on the past few days. Admittedly I'm having a hard time concentrating, because of a combination of fabulous smells coming out of the kitchen and of "A Little Fall of Rain" (Les Misérables) playing quietly in the background (it's the kind of music that makes you cry inside). But, I'll struggle hard and hopefully win the battle of attention-- enough to produce some kind of decent update. :)
So, to pick up where we left off (and by the way, yes, I did notice that I had dated Day 7 wrong)...
Day 8 -- Tuesday, August 31
In America we get excited about several sports-- football, baseball, basketball especially. In England, well, we don't even have those. We do have football, but it's what you call soccer. But besides football/soccer, our big love is cricket.
Now, in the States I have a hard time caring much about sports, it's true. But some of you may have been aware of the drastic change in Emily around the time of the World Cup (football/soccer). That would be because that's one sport I can actually watch and enjoy. The other... would be that slow, peaceful, overly pedantic, tea-drinkers', gentlemen's sport cricket. I know, I know... but what can I do?
So, last summer I attended a day of cricket with my grandfather, and the plan was to do so again this year. Today (Tuesday) was the day planned. However, I still had a bit of a cold, and we all felt that perhaps one more full day at home, rather than a full day out, would be smart-- just in the interests of getting well for good and all. This particular cricket match (Gloucester vs. Derbyshire, for those who care) was slated to last three or four days, so I planned to go on Thursday instead.
So, my Poppa went off to cricket early in the morning, and I enjoyed another "lazy" day, which included a stroll into town with my grandmother in the afternoon, after which I stayed in town and meandered around the shops some more... visited my favorite coffee shop... and actually read a book for a while. Amazing, I know.
To be honest, there's not much that makes me feel more at home and "back in Europe" than sitting for a while in an obscure coffee shop (I have avoided Starbucks since I got here) with a book or Bible, a notebook, and a good pen. It's unfortunate that my best coffee shop pen has a tendency to explode on long plane flights, resulting in a bit of a mess of ink later... but G. K. Chesteron probably doesn't mind the extra splotches on my copy of his book. He's probably just glad that I'm reading it and taking notes instead of chatting on Facebook.
I didn't take any pics this day, but here are a few more of "around home" that I took earlier.
The First Law of Relaxation: Always carry a notebook and a really good pen. (And don't be afraid of ink splotches.)
Day 9 -- Wednesday, September 1
Oh my word. I can't believe it's September already! I can't believe the year has flown by like this! I can't believe it's been a whole year since I began that final semester at Corban! I can't believe it's ONLY been a year since I was that person ... whom I'm certainly not anymore! Funny how life changes. And flies by (say it with me!) when you're having fun...
Right. Back to it.
This was the big surprise day. And by big surprise, I mean-- everyone else here in the Swindon gang knew what was in store for me today, and everyone knew it was grand, and everyone was fantastic at keeping it a profound secret. Beforehand I only knew (1) that my grandparents and I and Pat and Derek would be going off on an all-day adventure, (2) that we'd be leaving the house around 7:30, and (3) that we'd probably be tired when we got home.
Unfortunately for the great secret makers, I am good at making connections. So anything requiring this much secrecy, I figured must mean something "big" by our standards-- i.e. a concert, play, or show, or some really important place I'd never visited before (which severely limits the field cuz most of those places are too far away for a day trip). Also, the facts that we'd be out all day, be tired when we got home, and be leaving the house at 7:30, told me it was a trip to London. (Coach leaves the Swindon station at 8:00. They didn't think I'd remember that, though, did they? And last summer during our London day I heard that we'd be tired when we got home. They didn't think I'd make a silly connection like that, either, did they?) Sooooo all added together, I rather guessed that (1) we were headed to London for a day, and (2) we'd be seeing a show there. Didn't know which one or what kind, though.
Well, we left the house at 7:30... arrived at the coach (bus) station a few minutes later (Dennis from down the road gave us a lift-- wasn't that lovely?) and queued up with Pat & Derek (already waiting there) for the coach to London. Hurrah!!
Some of you may know I absolutely adore London. And some of you may also realize how very strange a fact that is. Because, of course, I used to HATE large crowds, cities, busy streets I might be in danger of having to cross-- all of it! And, I'm pretty sure I used to hate London-- I mean, my first memories of it (age 10) involve good times, yes, but also lots of rain and long hours in traffic. So, the fact that in the past three years I've come to absolutely adore a good day or two in London probably makes some people laugh. But oh... how I adore it.
Well, with these newer feelings toward the place, it was with great delight that I hopped onto that coach and watched the scenery go by as we neared my beloved city. And it was with greater delight that I began to recognize some familiar sights (fuzzy pictures because they were taken through the coach windows).
Of course there are so often those tiny interesting oddities waiting to be noticed.
When we arrived in London (around 10 a.m.) we spent a couple of relaxed hours wandering around some of the more famous sites, including a short stop at Buckingham Palace (no, we didn't see the Queen).
Something I find interesting about London is how, even with the thick crowds and never-ending supply of "places of interest" to see, plus the big red double-decker busses and all the other traffic, it still feels so open and free to me. I don't understand this. Do you? But anyway.
For lunch, my gang had in mind a Scottish steakhouse of some kind, but when that fell through they opted for Pizza Hut. What good Americans they'd make. :)
Well, after a delightful couple of hours wandering around in this beautiful city, we started to head-- somewhere-- because we had to be this special somewhere by 2:30. My guess was still that it was a matinee showing of a musical-- although which one, I didn't know. We passed several of the great theatres and near one of them I thought, "Wow, my gang back home would LOVE to see this one..."
And then... we stopped walking up the street, and instead walked into that theatre, and took our (rather splendid) seats, and watched Les Misérables.
I certainly understand that musicals are not for everyone. And I quite believe that this particular musical isn't for everyone (I know some people who hate it). But if you've ever enjoyed the sound and style of musicals, and haven't yet heard this one, I beg you to give it a try. I think the too-short hours in the Queen's Theatre, London, this week may have been the first time at a concert or show that the singing, singers, and emotion/story have combined for me to be absolute, 100% glory. Okay, maybe not 100%.... just 100% of what's possible on this earth.
Well, three hours later, while we were still floating in a cloud of glory, we bundled into a black taxi (lovely of that theatre fellow to show us just where to stand and put our hands out, eh?) and quickly got back to Victoria Station, where we grabbed a sandwich and hopped onto the coach to begin the journey back to Swindon. It hurt a little to leave London, I must admit-- especially not having an idea for sure of when I'll see this happy city again. But I think this place has a place in my future somehow, sometime.... hopefully next summer, to see another musical...
London always has a lot to say to me. For one thing, this place makes me feel much more hopeful about the future of the English human race, as far as their fashion is concerned. Good grief. Can our business people dress like this, please? And for another-- well, anywhere there are this many humans there is plenty of opportunity to observe both the best and worst of the world, and the need (in the words of Gandhi) to "be the change you wish to see in the world." After our few hours walking around the city, the Les Mis Finale resonated with me:
Will you join in our crusade?Yes... a good day in London Town. Tens of thousands of people must pass through this city every day, and today I was only one of them. Why is it, then, that I felt like one in a million, floating on that cloud of gladness?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes...
The Second Law of Relaxation: Take the time to glory in both the mundane and the sublime.
Day 10 -- Thursday, September 2
Sooo it's finally cricket day!! Except... when we got home from London last night, we found out that in an absolutely unbelievable reversal of fortunes, Gloucester (seemingly the winners-to-be as of the end of Tuesday) had epically failed at the Wednesday portion of the match, resulting in an early loss and end of the match. So, no cricket today after all!
Instead, my grandfather decided to find another adventure for me. So the two of us enjoyed a leisurely drive through the country, back to Hungerford (see Day 7) to enjoy the many shops there. We'd passed through too quickly the previous Monday to actually look in any of these shops, but since the town is famous for its antique and book shops, it seemed like a good way to spend a few hours.
I can always spend ages in used & antique book shops... and the "regular" antique shops were rather fascinating, as well! Plus, the town is just plain pretty.
Once our browsing energy was depleted, we got back in the car and came back to Swindon via the "extra scenic route." In this 45 minute spell we traveled through Berkshire, Gloucestershire, and finally back to native Wiltshire.
Our peaceful drive brought us home to a quiet dinner and (probably) some pleasant telly-watching. Aye, this be the life.
Third Law of Relaxation: A 45-minute drive can be a stressful commute, OR it can be a restful, scenic delight.
Day 11 -- Friday, September 3
Yet another day of quiet and laziness. The reason for today's ease, however, was not our lack of planning (or a cricket squad's lack of playing). In fact, it was because of our careful planning for the weekend. Saturday evening was going to be a special talent show night at our church, and both my grandmother and I were planning to perform. Plus, my grandmother was in charge of coordinating all the refreshments for this event (and bringing some of them herself). Plus, that night a visiting pastor and his wife would be staying with us. Plus, Sunday would be non-stop hosting, church, hosting some more, church, and then being hosted for a dinner party. So... all in all, it was felt quite strongly by the matriarch of 7 Farleigh Crescent (and presumably by the patriarch as well) that Friday should be an at-home, pottering-around-the-house, cooking, cleaning, preparing kind of day.
Now... any of you who really know my lifestyle know that this is rather different to how I live. If I had a busy Saturday and Sunday like that, I would most likely also have a packed-out Friday, and then do my preparations in the middle of the night...
As I have mentioned previously, the gang here have a much different idea of time and busyness than I do. Among other things, they plan plenty of time ahead (and know, down to the quarter-day, when the guestbed should be made up and when the dishes should go out on the breakfast table for the next day). And they plan plenty of time after. Again, if this had been one of my busy weekends back home, I'd be up early Monday and off to the next a dventure. Not so here. Planning anything for Monday morning was considered entirely out of the question, because a few hours at least would be needed for "clearing up." Now, I would have to clear up, too, in my crazy world... but here it's given a dedicated morning, or even day, to itself.
Thought: I think at my phase in life, it's okay for me to be so much busier than these folks are. I think it's okay to pack a whole lot more in each day than they do here. (After all-- they're retired. I'm not.) But... Is it possible that leaving time to prepare for and clear up from each major event leads to an overall less crazy, less stressful, more healthy lifestyle? Hmm. This is something I may have to ponder.... :)
Anyway. Since I wasn't even allowed to help with the housework, our friends Pat & Derek picked me up in the early afternoon Friday to take me off for an adventure. They took me out to the Cotswolds Water Park, which is just a few miles north of us (but stretches for many miles further north, west, and east). The Cotswolds Water Park is a sprawling set of 147 small lakes left from gravel digging. Some of these lakes are brand new; some are decades, maybe centuries old. Some have become favorite fishing spots; some are water-sport spots. Some are just gorgeous, peaceful homes to ducks and swans.
The latter make for good walks. And since the Cotswolds are also famous for canals, rivers, forests, and lovely old cottages, good walks are all too available. So, we walked.
After a good long walk, we moved on to another lake nearby, walked some more, then settled in for a long sit, chat, and picnic tea.
It was approaching sundown before we finally headed back to Swindon, to 7 Farleigh Crescent. Once there, my grandmother was all ready with tea and biscuits (cookies) for us all to have a good chat. Of course, she'd accomplished miracles in the housekeeping world in our absence. (Amazing, amazing lady. More to come on this.) Eventually Pat & Derek drifted home to do their own preparations for the weekend's festivities, and we settled down into our quiet evening routine (I think an Agatha Christie murder mystery was the evening's telly entertainment). It's hard to believe it's really me doing all this quiet, peaceful, non-busy living.
Speaking of which-- the others here will tell you we've been keeping busy. They'll tell you we've been out every day doing something (we have) and that's quite a good amount to fit in. Don't listen to them. This is the laziest I've been in as long as I can remember!
The Fourth Law of Relaxation: Leave time in between things so even busyness is relaxing.
Whew. It's horrifying how long it takes me to think out and write these updates. I think I'd better end for now, in the hope of getting some sleep tonight! A couple of parting thoughts:
1. Since we got back from London Wednesday night, I have listened to the Les Mis soundtrack 7 or 8 times all through, and I've listened to my favorite few songs up to 17 times. I think I may be addicted.
2. It's really weird not having a car of my own. I mean, seriously... I've spent the last 9 months half living out of my car. And now I don't even have one. It's been two weeks and I'm still not adjusted. Huh. Oh well!
Cheers.
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