Tag Archives: england

day trip to bath

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there are a number of quotations about Bath, particularly in Jane Austen’s novels, but this (from J.B. Priestly) is my favorite — and so very true:

“Then Bath spread herself before us, like a beautiful dowager giving a reception. Bath, like Edinbugh has the rare trick of surprising you all over again. You know very well it is like that, yet somehow your memory must have diminished the wonder of it, for there it is, taking your breath away again.” – J.B. Priestley, English Journey

four friends and i drove down last saturday and though it was mostly cloudy, bath was still a delight.

vagabonds, all

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an elderly man leaned against the bookshelves at waterstone’s, his white head bent down over a book, his plaid jacket well-worn. i did not notice his shoes at first; i was too mesmerized the scene as a whole: the stark black shelves, brought to life by the parade of colored covers nestled neatly; the classic englishness of an old man in a tweed jacket; the intensity of his focus; the fact that he was more than halfway done with the book in his hands. i took a picture or two, hoping i would not disturb him.

in the course of taking the shots, i noticed his ill-fitting shoes, over-sized socks, and a plastic grocery bag brimming with assorted old items. for a moment, i wondered if he was homeless. there was something even more poignant about the scene then — a homeless man, carrying all of his worldly possessions, uninhibited by one reality, unafraid to trade it in for another.

of course, as the pictures show, his clothes belie any homelessness — at least literal homelessness. but in another sense, i thought, he is a vagabond, a nomad. we are all homeless when we enter a bookstore. that’s why we are there, carrying our lives with us, wandering around, seeking a place to live — if only for a few hours.

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olivia

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when i was in second grade, we had a special “name change” day — a day we could pick whatever name we wanted, and we could be called that all day. my teacher told us about it ahead of time, but i knew immediately what name i was going to pick. i was going to be called Samantha. it was my favorite name as a little girl — probably some of that is due to the American Girls book series. anyway i was so excited for this special day to come, and i remember waiting in anticipation as the other children went around and gave their new names. the teacher would write each new name on a name tag, and students happily relabeled themselves. my turn came towards the end, and — i’ll never understand why — i had this sense of self-consciousness wash over me. i could not make myself pick Samantha. i was flush and anxious and afraid. so i picked the first name that came to mind: Janet. it turned out that another girl had already picked that name — though I hadn’t known at the time. I had been so excited about picking my name, that I hadn’t been listening to what other children were picking. i stuck on the name tag with a small smile at my teacher, and spent the whole day wishing i had had the guts to say Samantha. actually, for the next few years, i hoped every year we would get another name-change day. i always thought if only i had a do-over, i could do things right.

i told brenda this story the other day, and she recommended just giving myself name change days — going into starbucks and ordering a drink, and telling them my name was whatever name suited my fancy that day. needless to say, i loved that idea. i didn’t go into starbucks today, but if i had, today my drink would have had “olivia” scrawled on the side.

30 in 30

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the countdown begins today. ok, yes, technically it began a few years ago when i realized that one day i would have to turn 30. but anyway for all practical purposes, the countdown can begin today. i will be 30 years old 30 days from now. more to come.