Some things are the same world over.  Like cats and humor.  We thought this was charming.

As we did the custom, in many of the villages on the tourist van routes, of leaving homemade baked goods out on doorsteps for sale.  With a bin for payment on the honor system.  I had the best meringue I’ve ever eaten — hazelnut — at such a place.  Also superb chocolate fudge.  I couldn’t quite figure out what made the latter so distinctively yummy, but decided it was the use of brown sugar instead of or in addition to white, and the lack of the typical American marshmallow fluff.  I liked the grainier texture and the depth of caramel flavour (note the ‘u’)added to the chocolate by the brown sugar.

The British have a way with sweets and with signs.

Old stone structures — remains of walls, foundations, still-standing buildings — they are all a dime a dozen in Great Britain.  Or, one could say, a tuppence a dozen?

We saw Roman stone, Georgian stone, Victorian stone, ancient pre-Roman stone, and, I suppose, even new stone.  And everything in between.

Seeing Stonehenge was moving.  It was a gray drizzly day, just to remind us we were in England.  It was part of a tour that wove together small villages, green hills, narrow lanes, modern highways, ancient sites, and eerie echoes of unknown fellow humans, so much like us yet so different, who have come before.  It did just what travel should do: put us in perspective with who and what has been, is now, and will be.  We are one of many players all of whom wish the world did indeed revolve about them, even upon realizing that we are but specks, ideas realized in fleeting form, called upon to repair the world — we hope.

Cathedral ceilings are amazing.  We were in Great Britain for three weeks.  I have many photos to use as source material.

Buildings, gardens, food, subways, museums, family, WEDDING!

Jet lag — more later.

We make our mark, leave a trace, shout or whisper that we were here.  It is lovely when it is something lovely!

Friends invited us for dinner last night.  Chips and hummus, turkey burgers, chicken brats, homemade coleslaw with a sour cream/lime dressing, spicy  beans.  Yum.  I brought bourbon slush (thank you, KC Book Club!) and hot fudge sauce and chocolate thumbprint cookies.  Dessert was coffee ice cream with the hot fudge and cookies, and also oatmeal chocolate chip/cranberry cookies that they made.  Other people’s cooking is so much fun to sample!  We got the better part of the deal; next time, I’ll cook and they can bring dessert.

We make our mark even in sharing meals.  I like that.

Pretty intense orange.  Now, to do a pumpkin and compare.  There’s orange and there’s orange.

Color is so seductive.  We all seem to respond strongly to color.  I will be joining a photography group and I think I want to focus (as it were) on black and white.  For that group, anyway.  It will be interesting to see what I come up with, possibly with my camera phone, possibly with a digital SLR.

May I please clone myself?  There’s so much I want to do!