One Less Vice

Any committee that is the slightest use is composed of people who are too busy to want to sit on it for a second longer than they have to. ~Katharine Whitehorn

I'm often amazed how a normal day can end in such a different way than it started. I'm not talking about how life can be turned upside down by a tragedy, an accident, a critical diagnosis. I know those things come on quiet Tuesday afternoons or Wednesday mornings when you least expect it. I'm talking about other things that seem to be humming along in their normal course and all of a sudden change.

Last evening, for reasons I cannot discuss, four of the members of our eight person Board at West Toronto Community Legal Services resigned. As our Chair was one of those members, in the blink of an eye I moved from my role as Vice Chair to the role as Chair. Thinking about the challenges ahead kept me awake late into the night last night. All of this happened during the only Board meeting I've missed in my two year tenure.

Instead of attending the Board meeting, I went to the "by invitation only" opening of the new Joey Restaurant at the Eaton Centre. It was way fun. The food was fabulous; the service excellent. I met interesting people. While standing at the curry bar awaiting a bowl of Thai curry noodles, I was contacted by my dear friend Gail who sits on the WTCLS Board with me, and to whom I had given my voting proxy for last night's meeting, to advise me of what had transpired. Though I had tried to prepare myself for the possibility that is how events would unfold, I still felt stunned.

Within minutes of leaving Joey, around 8:30, I was already immersed in the business of the Clinic. There were calls to be made, memos to be written, plans to be developed. It is so much work. I took a couple of moments to take a few deep breaths and remind myself of why I agreed to join this Board in the first place. I do it because our Clinic serves thousands of the most marginalized people in our city. When I finally laid my head on my pillow last night, I was able to say to myself that in reviewing my day, I had truly done the best I could.

Be It Ever So Humble

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
- John Howard Payne

There was cold, fresh watermelon on the kitchen table and groceries in the fridge when we arrived home from London yesterday afternoon around 6:30. The plants in the garden look lush. The ravine thick with foliage. When I tumbled into bed just after 10:00 P.M., I could hardly believe how comfortable it was. I love being home.

We had a really great vacation. It was wonderful to catch up with family and friends who we have not seen for far too long. It was special to travel with Jacob, the man. It was exhilarating to discover new places and steep in the history of old ones. We will have memories to last a lifetime.

And, it is incredibly wonderful to be home. No matter how great a time had elsewhere, there are things about home that we take for granted. Things that are just part of normal life but never come to mind until we notice those same things are not part of normal life elsewhere. Some things I am grateful for in a whole new way...

Toilets that flush, first time, every time.

Being able to figure out how to dress for the weather. If it's frigidly cold, I can dress to be warm. If it is scalding hot, I can dress to be cool. I can slather myself in sunscreen to protect my skin from the blazing sun. I can wear a raincoat to keep dry from the rain. Rarely, if ever, do I have to figure out how to dress for all of that in a single day, or even a single hour.

Tim Hortons. A large cup of coffee is $1.65 as opposed to a small cup of coffee pretty much everywhere in the U.K. at a price equivalent to $4.00.

Have I mentioned how happy I am to be home?

London

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." - Samuel Johnson

We dropped the car off at Heathrow yesterday morning with the odometer showing we drove 1,100 miles during our two weeks in the U.K. My feet feel like they've done about that much mileage too.

We took the train from the airport to Paddington Station and then walked the six blocks to our hotel pulling our suitcases behind us. The hotel is obscenely expensive and very basic. Our room is so small, it is necessary to step out if you need to change your mind. Nonetheless it is clean and well situated, about a twenty minute walk from Lancaster Station. Upon arrival yesterday we dropped our bags and hit the street with the intention we would walk a few miles then take the underground to Covent Gardens where we would dine before the show. As we arrived in Covent Gardens quite early we stopped by the theatre to pick up the tickets I bought on-line more than a month ago. They had no record of our tickets. I produced the receipt and the young man at the box office told me that the tickets had been issued for a performance for the day after I booked it in May. We were, therefore, six weeks late. I explained to him that I had a confirmation that the tickets were correctly booked for last night. He didn't really seem surprised so I guess we aren't the first people that has happened to. He gave us three tickets for a box, not as good as the seats we were supposed to have, but good enough. It was a great show.

When we left the theatre it was pouring. There wasn't a taxi to be had and none of us had an umbrella. It was a long, crowded walk to the underground, a long descent down the stairs (Merv didn't want to wait for the elevator and failed to see the sign that said there were 192 steps down to the train) and a long, wet walk back to our hotel. I practically collapsed into bed with exhaustion.

Today we bought tickets for the hop on, hop off tour bus. We rode for two hours then walked for five. We are back at our hotel for a short rest before making our way out for dinner. We have agreed to stay close to the hotel. We are all tired and tomorrow will be another long day. Our flight is at 2:00 P.M. We've had a great time. As much as I've loved it, I will be happy to go home.

Viva Las Venice

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139–143

The production of The Merchant of Venice which we saw at the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre tonight was an interesting modern take on the classical play. Set mainly in Las Vegas, there was an Elvis impersonator, a thug and a couple of southern belles. The language was all as Shakespeare wrote it. I was surprised how many passages I can still recite from my grade nine study of the play. Patrick Stewart was cast in the role of Shylock. As Jacob put it, he was absolutely brilliant.

Our night at the theatre was the perfect end to our time in Stratford. Today we enjoyed the history the city has to offer. We toured the home that William Shakespeare was born in and the remains of the home he died in. We toured the home of his daughter and son-in-law who was Stratford's doctor. We all learned some things about Victorian England,though I probably learned more than the boys as my knowledge deficit was far greater than either of theirs to begin with.

Tomorrow morning we will head to London for the last leg of our journey. Before going into the city we will take our rental car back to Heathrow and then take the train into the city. Tomorrow night we have tickets to see The Woman in Black. I saw it five years ago when I was in London on business with my friend Mike. Neither of the boys have seen it. As I recall it is quite scary. I think they will like it. We have yet to determine our plan for Saturday. I will go along with whatever Jacob and Merv choose. I would be content to just walk around the city and absorb the energy that is London. I do want to figure out, though, between now and the end of my shopping time on Saturday, what treasures I might pick up as table gifts for our Christmas Eve dinner. I've decided we will be having an English Christmas this year.

Stratford-upon-Avon

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

The Merchant Of Venice Act 4, scene 1, 180–187

We left Betws-y-Coed at about 10:30 this morning and made a short stop to see the aquaducts at Pont Scysylite on our way to Stratford-upon-Avon. After checking into our bed and breakfast we spent a lovely afternoon exploring the streets of the town, stopping at a couple of pubs for sustenance and visiting the church where Shakespeare is buried. I was surprised to see that William Shakespeare was only fifty-two years old when he died. Merv reminded me that fifty-two was a ripe old age in the 1500s.

Tomorrow we have tickets to see a modern adaptation of the Merchant of Venice at the main theatre in S-o-A. A shopkeeper we met this afternoon told us this version of the classic play is set in Las Vegas with Patrick Stewart (aka. Star Trek's Captain Jean Luc Picard) in the role of Shylock. I can't quite imagine it. She has warned us to expect some Elvis impressions and some accents from the deep south. It will be different for sure.

The last days of our holiday are flying by. Just one more day in Stratford and two days in London before we head for home on Sunday. It has been a great trip. In spite of all the walking I've done, I suspect I will be starting my diet from scratch when I get home.

Great Orme Head

"I don't know how you get dressed if you live in Wales, because it's pouring rain, and then it's hot sunshine, and then it might hail. It's just so confusing." - Piper Perabo

I've climbed. I've walked. I've waded in the Irish sea. I've been drenched in cold rain. I've been bathed in warm sunshine. I've been swept by lashing winds. All this in one day. We started the day in Conwy with a tour of Conwy castle. That is an outdoor activity as all that is left of the castle is the walls. There are no rooms, no ceilings. It was warm and sunny when we first arrived. Within minutes the cold rain was driving. We ducked into doorways and sloshed through puddles. Then we moved on to a fifteenth century house for a tour and a glimpse of Welsh life in old times. It seems like every school kid in Conwy was on a class trip today to both the castle and the house. To call the children ill behaved is to speak kindly. After leaving Conwy we drove to Great Orme Head. The weather alternated every five minutes between frigid rains and warm sunshine. Merv did a superlative job of driving us to the top of Great Orme Head though he claimed the need to change his pants once we finally got up there. It was a bit harrowing. I like to think of it as a chance to improve my prayer life.

Great Orme Head offers a magnificent view of the Irish sea, the village and the countryside. And the sheep, of course. The winds were so strong at the top of Great Orme Head that I was clinging to Jacob for protection. It is quite a fascinating place. There are more than 400 species of rare plants at the top of Great Orme Head. And there are the Great Orme Goats which have massive horns on their sheep-like bodies. After our visit at the top, we made the drive back to the bottom, which was as harrowing on the way down as it was on the way up.

In the village we walked to the pier where the boys each had a Welsh beer at the end of the pier which is half-a-mile from the shore, followed by a walk of several miles through the village. By the time we returned to the car, we were all falling apart.

The drive back to Betws-y-Coed was punctuated with rain and then sun and then more rain. A lovely rainbow briefly shone upon the mountain tops. We decided to stop for dinner at an inviting little inn. It was a great choice. The food, though far too abundant, was delicious.

Tomorrow we will leave Wales and head to Stratford-on-Avon. We have tickets to see The Merchant of Venice tomorrow night. There is still much to see in Wales but it will have to wait for another time. I managed to learn one word in Welsh today - the word for thank you. I cannot say it often enough.

Sheep

"Each section of the British Isles has its own way of laughing, except Wales, which doesn't". - Stephen Leacock

There are three million people in Wales and eleven million sheep. That explains the landscape. It is hard to drive anywhere in Wales where there isn't a sheep in view unless you are on a street in a city core. Even then, there is no guarantee.

Our current location of Betws-y-Coed is in the area of Wales known as Snowdonia. The beauty of the region is breathtaking. Today we took the train up Snowdon mountain. The view from the summit at the top is said to be of five kingdoms - Wales, Ireland, England,The Isle of Man and the Kingdom of Heaven. I'm not sure which kingdoms I was looking at when we got there, except for the heaven part. I'm pretty sure I had a glimspe of the Kingdom of Heaven. I'm happy I'm not doing any of the driving on this holiday. I don't know how Merv can concentrate on the road when immersed in such beauty. In some places it feels like a fairy land. In others it is the stark beauty which is so startling. Whether in lush green areas or in the slate rock quarries, there are sheep. So many sheep. Many of them are still wearing their winter coats. Some have been shorn. They look so tiny without their coats. I saw some today that seemed to be the size of Dora.

After our trip up Snowdon Mountain, we headed to Caenarfon, the city that houses the palace in which Charles became Prince of Wales. It is a sad gray place, showing clear signs of being economically depressed. We didn't stay long.

Tomorrow we are going to Conwy Castle. I'm also hoping to have a chance to wander through some of the specialty craft stores in Betws-y-Coed. The stores close early here and they had all closed by the time we returned to the village tonight. It is a quiet village. There is no night life which is fine. The bed and breakfast in which we're staying has a small lounge. The three of us have made ourselves quite comfortable, sharing companionship and watching a bit of TV.