Five miles north of my Robin Hood’s Bay finishing point, I decompress at Whitby, a town with a population of 10,000 which I never would have guessed. A good place to rest and recollect. As it was historically larger than Robin Hood’s Bay due to its role as a small port for ships fishing the …
337. Ordinary Folks
Guess who is coming to dinner I thoroughly enjoy taking photos of individuals. In a different life, I would have loved to be a photojournalist. Recently, our son Charles sent me news about the death of the great Indian photographer Raghu Rai who chronicled South Asian life of the famous and not-at-all famous for decades. …
336. English Garden Spaces
Dark Iris Whitby Museum Mary and I enjoy gardening. So, I notice garden spaces as I walk through England. Garden before Richmond Garden Everybody who has planted plants from astilbe to zenias has probably heard of “English cottage gardens.” Every square foot of ground is planted. Flowers of various colors and heights. Flowers for the …
335. Tea or Coffee?
Tea or Coffee? Why ask? Everybody knows the answer. If you are from the States or the Mediterranean world, then the answer is coffee. If you are from England, then the answer is tea. I’m sitting at the breakfast room at the BnB talking with another couple who are from Durham. Danny, the BnB owner …
334. I’m Singing in the Rain, Not
“I’m laughing at clouds so dark up above.” No offense to Gene Kelly, but that is not how this last day goes. Rain, rain, and more rain. I am fortunate. I bailed from walking an exposed ridge line in the Lake District because the rain and the cold made me leery that the rain might …
333. Trees and More Trees
Richmond tree In Atlanta, we have six Oak trees, five Japanese “Red Cedar” Cryptomeria, a Gingko (the oldest living species at 200 million years), and a Dawn Redwood (also probably million years old). I’m not counting the seventy Japanese Maples from dwarf to mature twenty-five year olds. Maybe growing up with mature, stately street Elms …
332. How To Get to White Horse Farm Inn
Frank, Joy, Wolfgang Wolfgang doesn’t know. “If I tell you how to go to White Horse Farm Inn, I’d be lying.” “I’ve owned the Buck Inn for fifteen years, but I still don’t know much about the surrounding area.” The night before, I talk to two locals in the pub. “White Horse Farm Inn, for …
331. Parish Church Interiors
An English village without a parish church is inconceivable, unimaginable. It is as if small town Georgia had no Dominos or Subways or high school football stadiums more grand than county courthouses. Google informs me that there are 16,000 English churches, approximately 9,000 from the medieval period. Yikes! Entering a small church, my nose picks …
330. Sheep Thoughts
There are three sheep related facts that I know. First, I like socks and shirts made from Spanish originated Merino wool. Second, I know that in the late medieval and early modern periods, numerous English cities became wealthy centers of the wool trade. Third, I don’t know any children or family that have pet sheep. …
329. How Far Have the Stones Moved
Yesterday from Kirkby Stephen to Keld, a walk shaped by clouds and fog. The ubiquitous gray. Family room, bedroom, kitchen walls painted a gray going out of style. The gray as close as the end of my walking pole. Little to be seen. Wonderfully eerie. A gray day walking past the stones of Nine Standards. …
Journeys: Explorations in Body, Mind, and Spirit 