Well, isn’t it just the way of life that when you imagine your plans are most set, you find that they are in fact most flexible? That was my experience this past weekend.
This past weekend, as you may remember, I had thought that I would be going to Snowdonia Natl. Park and hiking to the top of Mt. Snowdon, right? Well, there is a funny story about that…
I was talking to my friend Paige (on Thursday night) who was also going to be traveling with me to Mt. Snowdon. The entire trip to Mt. Snowdon, in Northern Wales, was included in my fees for studying abroad through Butler Univ. All food, lodging, and activities had been already arranged for us, and all I had to do was get to the Bristol Parkway Station and be reimbursed for my ticket to Cardiff. I, being the eager beaver I am, had already bought my train ticket to Cardiff for the weekend of March 1. Right, so I am talking with Paige and she is telling me how her boyfriend was coming to visit and was going to arrive the next day. I started empathizing with Paige, saying how sad it was that she was going to miss the weekend with her boyfriend since she was going to be in Wales. Paige, rightly being confused, said that it was alright since he was leaving on the morning of next Friday, so they wouldn’t miss any time with him. This, needless to say, confused me. After a bit of fumbling between us, Paige says, “Sally, you know the trip isn’t until next weekend, right?” No way. There was no way I had gotten the dates wrong, right? I mean, I had already bought my ticket to Cardiff, surely I hadn’t bought it without checking my dates first?
I caught the 9pm train out of Oxford and, between the next train and the bus back to Stoke Bishop, arrived home around 10:50. What happy adventures I had.Now, this weekend, I am rather sure I will go to the oft’ vaunted Mt. Snowdon. But, with the ways things have been shaking out for me so far, I wouldn’t bet your life savings on it. I hope you all have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening!
So good to see you Sally!!!
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What an interesting time! Sometimes a mistake just means that you get an extra adventure. Nothing wrong with that! I was so happy you had a Bakewell Tart. You're right that the world is discovering the glories of a good hamburger: good meat, fresh bun. One of the best I had was in NZ–quite a shock.
I'm always tickled (in a sad way) when long-conquered regions struggle to hold on to their culture, especially their sadly near-defunct language. The Welsh are *so* conquered that the royal heir is the “Prince of Wales,” yet they practice a kind of administrative rebellion by insisting on bilingual street signs. Sad.
Do you remember when I was working with a couple friends to write an ending to C. S. Lewis' unfinished book “The Dark Tower?” The Oxford library was an important location and none of us had been there. I showed up on a stopover en route to Russia and asked for a tour. It took a lot of finagling to finally get somebody to take me into the stacks, tower, etc. There were quirky things like an ancient set of electrically synchronized clocks. The original card catalog consisted of cards PASTED IN ALBUMS! The current card catalog was . . . CARDS at a time when every library I knew had switched to databases. On our way down the stairs from the 10th floor I bluffed my guide: “Say, this is the floor where that guy hanged himself, isn't it?” “That was never made public! How did you know about that? And it wasn't this floor anyway!” –Score! He was glad to be rid of me.
Naturally I wrote a snappy ending to Lewis' DT, and equally naturally the C. S. Lewis trust forbade us to do anything with it. Oh well.
Looking forward to your next post, –Uncle Ray
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