The feeling of being there

Hi friends. We have been so busy (remember, this is WORK for me, seriously) that I haven't had time to blog. We're up and gone early in the morning, and don't come back to the hotel (where I can do computer stuff) until later in the evening, at which time I have 10 teenagers to get to bed and quiet by their curfew. BTW - I found out today that "curfew" comes from the French word that means to cover a fire!

I remember hearing people over the years talk about what it was like to visit the Holy Land - to walk in the places where Jesus likely walked, or to touch something that he probably touched. And I thought, "I don't need that! I have him right here in my heart; why do I need to go where his body was?"

However. We visited Westminster Abbey. I stood right in front of the bones of Chaucer. And the next day (yesterday) I stood not 2 feet from a blue sapphire that was (almost certainly) on the finger of Edward the Confessor -- the king who ruled England right before William the Conqueror came over in 1066. I could SEE it - 2 feet from my face. There's something stunning and exhilarating about that, that I can't explain. Seeing its picture, or even knowing it's in the same city isn't good enough. You want to be in the same room, see if for yourself.

Same thing today -- to stand in the room where Shakespeare was born. To put my foot on the stone floor he stood on (okay, so I even slipped my foot out of my shoe so I could really FEEL it), to stand in front of HIS grave as well, in the chancel of that church. Those few things make this long trip ALL worth it.

Tomorrow I walk around Oxford. I hope to sit down in the Eagle and Child, the pub where Tolkien and Lewis sat together.

Tuesday I hope to go stand a foot from the Anglo-Saxon mask found at Sutton-Hoo. After that, I'll be ready to come home.

No pictures tonight. I think I'll post them later, maybe when I get home. Just typing is about all I can manage right now.