the sucker

This morning a sign went up in front of the school - "Found cat - Call Bok to identify" I smiled AND felt my heart sink. That sign will assuage my guilt over cat thievery but it would be very sad if someone claims her. I've been careful to not name her until I'm sure, but possibilities dance through anyway. She's a sweetheart. Sometimes things are transitory, sometimes things stay. When the adopter is ready, the kitten appears. 4:00 this afternoon deadline?

continued.....

Ok, I'm really trying to do the right thing. But the office staff put the kitten in my room & ran. We're bonding contrary to best advice......

the ongoing tail

The kitten spent the night in my garage, dry, warm & fed. It was starving for attention this morning. I'm racked with multi-pronged guilt. The kitten is living at the school. The kitten has a little pink collar. The kitten is either lost or left to its own devices. The kitten is missed by the collar-buyer or not. The guilt will be for any decision - I'm either stealing a cat or failing to steal a cat. What to do....

there's this cat....

... hanging outside the school. The friendliest little kitten, love to be picked up, held, fussed over. The little pink collar is the only thing stopping me from taking it home. I think it's stopping me. Help! it's a calico with Hemmingway thumbs. I've loved on it three times today, saving it from herds of kids with big feet. I put it in the bushes next door & it came back. I put it in the back yard and it came back. A kid put it farther out in the yard & it came back. I don't want it to be flat on the road or an alligator's dinner. Do you think George wants a baby sister? Look what fell into my car, can we keep it? No, it's wearing a collar & I can't steal a cat. But it's loose in the world. So sad to be all alone in the world. What if I accidentally put the cat carrier in the car tomorrow......? SO sad to be all alone in the world.

first letter about the vacation...

London was faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic. We felt at home there immediately. Ok, at home in a place we didn't know where to find things, but it felt like a place we belonged. I'm all about public art, architecture & history - I was in heaven with 800 + years on display and in daily use. The underground was a lot easier to use than in New York. The train lines don't cross as much & is MUCH less confusing. The down side is that only the newest, busiest stations are equipped with escalators - stairs going down to the trains one or two levels below, and then back up make knees and ankles protest to the point of quitting. One elderly station had a circular staircase that wound down so far I swear I smelled brimstone. But it was a great adventure, and very easy way to get around MOST places.

There is a big language barrier, though. We thought, with American movies everywhere, we'd be understood better than we were. Turned out we had to speak slowly, make eye contact and occasionally gesture to get directions & info. Made for some interesting side trips until we caught on to have guidebook in hand to have a print version of our requested destination.

We went to wonderful places every day. St. Paul's, Oxford, Hyde Park, palaces, gardens. Had to remind myself that the Tudor style buildings were not the cheesy knockoffs we're used to here, they're ACTUAL Tudor buildings. Most of the things we enjoyed the most were things we just stumbled upon. We had not planned to see the changing of the Guard, we'd both been there before. But we wander out of Hyde Park into Green Park at the right time and hear the military band play their post-change concert. Two military bands, to be exact. One playing what you'd expect - British martial music, alternated with a 2nd band doing more contemporary pieces. I couldn't quite believe I was hearing a medley of Abba coming out of the gates of Buckingham Palace. When they launced into "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" I almost died. Monty Python's best. I looked around the crowd & realized no one knew this was funny.....Aw come on, people, whistle along! The best part of Oxford, other than that being my first train ride that wasn't a subway, and just being in such an old university town, was the garden space off the main street. For a very small admission, we were able to wander through utter silence except for the bells chiming from campus towers. It was old enough to look like it grew there spontaneously, and planned down to the last detail. There was a spot with an odd mixture of colors - orange and purple. It was kind of jarring, but on closer inspection, one of the flowers that grew so occasionally in the space that they looked like weeds, was a kind of a daisy with orange petals and a large purple center. Those few scattered flowers unified the space & justified the mixture of such jarringly diffierent colors. Planned to the last detail. There was a soft to medium rain most of that day, so we timed our lunch, snacks & visits to Christchurch & Oxford Castle Gaol for the harder downpours. Back to the train station, back to London for dinner & BBC. A very good day.

The theatre was miraculous. No less than miraculous. I can't wait for Sister Act to come to New York so I can see it again. The star - who sings MUCH better than Whoopi Goldberg - is just luminous, the villain boyfriend & henchmen are evil set to a Motown soundtrack (Imagine Lou Rawls singing seductively about finding the girl & killing the girl) the nuns each had a feature & the woman playing Mother Superior was some kind of national treasure....wow. OH wow. The disco numbers with glittery nuns were way too funny AND good.

Billy Elliott was so very good the 14-year-old star stopped the show twice for standing ovations. After the show, we saw him surrounded by teen girls - and boys - signing autographs & taking pictures with them. I must admit I joined that circle to have him sign my program. If he's that good at 14, I can't wait to see him in 10 years. I just got the impression, from how nice he was about all the attention, that his parents make him clean his room and pick up after his dog. I can't imagine that in New York. I can't. I don't think it would be safe to let a kid talk to fans, or even walk through the crowd on the way to the car. I love London.

This was probably more than anyone wanted to know. The shorter response is great - vacation was great!

It was a challenge to find something affordable at Harrod's but we did it in the food hall. Oh, the food hall.

We had some excellent meals in London, something that surprises me, as Britain is not noted for its food. The international influence brought a South African sushi place - to which we went twice - and a great noodle place that was actually cheap. We ate there there twice, too. The high tea at St. Paul's was more than we could eat. I commited the sin of not finishing the lemon cake after having consumed the scones, sandwiches & tarts. The lemon cake was the best of the lot, but in the unfortunate position of being tried last. I'll never forget it calling me from the plate as I left - it was sooooooooooooooooooo good.

All the walking, all the eating, all the walking, all the eating. Only gained 3 pounds, not bad for a vacation. I smile to think of all the hundreds of pounds spent there, I should be grateful I brought ANY kind of pound back home......

More coffee, more mental acuity. Time for more acuity.