After an easy flight, I'm back in the garden of England (the county of Kent) where, of course, it is the wettest June ever. The place is populated with cheerful, chirpy, cockney chappies who all sound like Dick Van Dycke. Everyone is riding around on bikes, drinking warm beer, and playing cricket. Laughing bobbies are everywhere and the number of old maids heading for Evensong is a definite traffic hazard. Actually.......Gatwick airport now looks more Third World than the airport in Fiji I passed through 20 years ago. The immigration official who greets you is wearing a burkha, with two little Muslim eyes peeping out. The roads are in a permanent state of gridlock..... but at least there's the warm beer! My mother has been treasure hunting for me over the last few months: among the treasures - a First Edition (illustrated) of Belloc's 'Hills and the Sea,' two other First Editions: 'Stane Street,' by Belloc and 'Sanctions: A Frivolity,' by Ronald Knox. I also have some Maurice Baring, and Chesterton's 'Charles Dickens,' 1907 edition - yarooh, as my nom de blog would say! Meanwhile, news of the impending arrival of the Postal Order is once again hotting up. Apparently, when the school hols come, and Big Ben goes to the lakeside, the Postal Order will arrive just as term ends. Tuck will just have to be eaten at home washed down with all the Bolly that's been on ice for months. Tomorrow we head for Paris for the day - and the Rue du Bac to ask for some help from Our Lady for the new parishes.
5 comments:
welcome back. Email or phone Fr Tim, as his diary is considerably more chock-a-block than mine, and he'll let me know when and where we'll meet. His email is rosary@freeuk.com
Your post reminds me of the quote from Shaw: England and America are two countries divided by a common language.
Enjoy your visit home and good luck in the new parish.
Postal Order = Motu Proprio. Tuck = Food, usually candy. Hols = vacation. Big Ben = Pope Benedict. Bolly = Bollinger champagne. Any other words - pick up a copy of a Billy Bunter book, one of the great works of English literature - all clear?
Have a great holiday Ben! I've just had an invitation from a business contact to come to Vermont, so we may meet up again soon. Have a pint of bitter for me and mine, and I'll try not to tell you what the summer in South Carolina is like.
By the way, who's the old girl dressed up for a high school prom that you've put up as a picture on your blog post?
Fr. Dwight, that must have been some quincierana! I just want to borrow the hat for five minutes. I'll give it back. Really. [I think I'd have to!]
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