The longest gap between blog updates. Things were just too crazy for too long to do
anything meaningful. And then I was too
drained of mental energy once I got back to Ottawa. So here we go. No daily update for the last month. Just writing.
The Slow Recovery
I woke with a jolt. My alarm chiming away. I look to my clock and see 3:30 glowing red
into the darkness.
I struggle to shake dreams from
reality. My mind scurries through the
reasons to wake at such an hour. “today
is Stonehenge day!”… no, we did that. “A
train to Bath, hurry, get up… the others will be waiting.”… wait, that’s not
it. “The flights! The service to
Heathrow will be here soon!”
Then confusion drifts into the
process. That light along the edges of
the blind… it seems awfully bright for such an hour as this. Wait… that’s MY blind. I’m in Ottawa. It’s 3:30 PM, not AM… and my afternoon nap
has come to an end. Softball and
nightshift await. Heathrow airport was
done five days ago.
You know a vacation will stay with you
when… well… when it literally stays with you.
Five days after returning to Ottawa I’m waking up thinking I’m in
England. A back and forth via text and I
see my sister has done the same thing.
Not a day goes by that some portion of the trip doesn’t enter my thought
process.
Sometimes thoughts turn to the stone circle
of Stonehenge. Other times I think about
the piercing Shard skyscraper appearing between buildings as we walk to the
next thing.
But there are other thoughts that creep
in. Thinking of the recorded voice on
the Tube gently suggesting “Alight here for Museum of Natural Science and Royal
Albert Hall.” Thinking of the Waitrose
grocery store that was entered almost a daily where deli meats, lemon infused
water and seated cashiers await. And
thinking of evening walks through local area mews’s (London side streets).
The spectacular and ordinary have melded
into a memory that makes an amazing experience seem normal and that makes for a
better time in my mind. You see the
touristy things but also see life of the area.
Bath is a tourist hotspot but we had an
evening stroll with very few people around and were there as a local pub
opened, just in time for pints and snacks with a local cat coming ‘round to see
what we had to offer.
A snack and a drink in Edinburgh, sitting
there with my parents while watching the rains pour from the heavens outside
mean as much as the open air double decker bus tour we went on a half hour
after the rains stopped. The latter
experience bringing sights and history of a new town to me. The former as a family moment… lucky to be
together, healthy and able to share such a time.
So much was done over the two weeks. So much packed in to each day. It would be hard to explain it all. Hard to convey the thoughts and feelings of
everything. But some memories stand out.
Seeing the first European sunrise on the
flight across the sea. First seeing the
glow on the distant sky. Then having the
clouds begin the radiate orange and red.
Until the sun climbs up, bringing breakfast upon it. Our first meal of the European vacation from
35,000 feet up bringing reality to the plans and dreams.
Having my first European sleep. Tired and with head buzzing, I climb the
stairs to my first bed of the trip. A
single bed tucked into a small loft. I
can sit and look out over my parents room, but I can not stand without hunching
over in Quasimodo fashion. I climb under
the covers and drift off in the broad daylight of morning. Waking just before lunch, ready to venture
out into London Town.
Stonehenge Day. This was the part of the vacation that
concerned me the most prior to the going.
I wasn’t sure about the company taking us. I worried about horrible weather on a day so
full of outdoor plans. In the morning
the coach was close to a half hour late picking us up, and then the driver
appeared to not be sure where he was going.
But concerns washed away for me when I saw
the stone circle for my second first time.
Like nine years ago, it just appeared out my window, there on the side of
the road. In a way, no more grand than
the cows in the fields. Yet in another
way, bringing childhood dreams back to the forefront. The unreachable places simply there and
waiting.
Our guide met us and the rest of the day
went without a hitch. Going inside the
stone circles being as meaningful to me as I expected it to be. Followed by the previously unheard of but
charming town of Avebury, with their own stone circles and a town function
offering what they called “possibly the world’s greatest pea soup”. A return to Salisbury is a fine way to end
the day.
The trip into the Scottish Highlands. To leave behind the hustle and bustle of
people for a few hours. To look out over
the hills. The green. The rock.
The remaining hints of snow.
Being able to amble through the ruins of a castle before reaching
another place of childhood dreams. To be
able to look out at Loch Ness.
I enjoyed the relative peace and quiet
along the River Thames. Sitting at a
bench across from the London Eye with mom and dad as we waited for Edena and
family as they visited nearby Banqueting House.
To just sit and chat quietly in such a location. And then to happiness of spotting the rest of
my family across the road as they come to meet us again. To be in such a large and busy place and be
able to look across an intersection and spot those you love.
Finally making it to Greenwich gave a
feeling of accomplishment. To have the
peace of the river boat bringing us through the heart of the city. And then arriving. With the combination of spectacular
architecture and great open parks. The
climb up the small hill atop which sits the Royal Observatory. With spectacular views and the knowledge of
standing on the Prime Meridian. The
divider of the world between west and east.
And lunch at Greenwich. In an old
pub along the Thames where we can see ourselves in a painting. The pub on canvas more than a hundred years
ago… with our window still there today as it was shown then.
And I remember several quiet times with
family. Wandering the gardens of
Highclere Castle with mom. Having a
drink at the hotel bar with dad in Bath.
Walking through an old cemetery with Duff. And sitting with Edena aboard a train,
watching the English countryside pass us by as we chat.
There is so much more. So many sights left unmentioned. So many moments remaining jumbled in my brain
as the hectic nature of the past month slowly settle as I reacclimatize to life
in Ontario.
But it should come as no surprise that I
woke that day last week thinking I was a continent away and twelve hours off of
the correct time. Everyone should be
able to experience such confusion… when it comes for such unforgettable
reasons.
