Back from across The Pond

Dearest and I are back from the UK today, the longest vacation that either of us have ever taken, either together or separately. We're pretty much on the same wavelength for the post-mortem: We're glad that we did it--finally setting foot off our native continent--but the investment of time and money (and no small amount of frustration/annoyance) was not profitable. Speaking purely for myself, I'd be ten times as recharged if I had spent 18 days at home, reading and puttering.

But like all my learning, the education comes the hard way. Which, on the upside, means that the lesson is absorbed. I can forget my squeamishness about being the "ugly American," at least in the UK. With a few (very!) notable exceptions, the Brits I met were no better-mannered than the stereotypical East Coast denizen. Understand that part of that perception is merely my natural reaction to the cattle-market culture of any metropolis. I was raised in small Midwestern cities, and their ethos of humility and politeness somehow managed to make an lasting mark on the opinionated, self-centered little monster that I was--and still can be.

My impression of London is that it could be any metropolis...just with some nifty old stuff tucked here and there. Actually, though, if you want "Merrie Olde England", York is a much better place for that. Evensong at York Minster literally made me weep for its beauty. And, two days later, having a quiet cider by a crackling fire in a building that had been built circa 1417 CE (but had been a pub only since the 1700s, you understand) was pretty mind-blowing, at least for someone who prizes recorded history. Like this History Nerd, for instance.

Minimalist post

Beekeeping from three thousand years ago. Interestingly, it looks more like modern boxes than medieval skeps. (In the medieval system, the hive and its inhabitants were more or less destroyed to "harvest" the honey. Not cool. Like life isn't short and impersonal enough for a worker bee...)