Back in 2005 when Cindy Lou retired from the classroom, she talked about how she’d like to take me to England as her big celebration trip. Sounded great to me.
Now here it is 2013 -- and we’re finally taking flight tomorrow afternoon for London. A first for me. A third for Cindy Lou. An adventure for us both!
It’s not that we didn’t want to get off our chairs and jet off to the United Kingdom. We started the reservation process a couple of times, but other things just seemed to get scheduled and, well, you know how that goes.
A bunch of this trip was designed with the help of an American Automobile Club counselor, but the centerpiece of the excursion, as far as I’m concerned, is a week at Holy Hill Hermitage in County Sligo, Ireland. If you and I chat very often, you are aware of my affection for the Nada Hermitage in Crestone, Colorado. Been there a couple of times and even hauled a grandson to Crestone for a family week a year ago. Nada is operated by the Spiritual Life Institute. The SLI runs Holy Hill as well.
If the truth be told, though, Cindy’s highlights will be in London and vicinity. She’s eager to get me out in the neighborhoods where she says, “Everything you see is some part of history you’ve already read about.” She even bought tickets for us to see Spamalot -- in London! I cannot imagine a better place to experience the Monty Python mentality than in England’s capital city!
Right now it’s mid-evening the day before we fly. My suitcase and carry-on are assembled and waiting at the front door. They’ll get a couple small things yet tomorrow morning, but they’re ready to fly. I’ve assembled a few books of poetry for the trip and look forward to visiting a London bookstore for a leisurely peruse. I have an updated poetry notebook prepared and another steno book ready for thoughts and ideas. A few good pens and pencils are stowed, as well. And, of course, there is the laptop that will provide the communication link to the outside world. No phones this time, smart or otherwise. I am looking forward to an experience without tons of technology. Digital photography should be amazing.
I will be blogging along the way and including some images of what we experience. I hope you’ll stop by The Back Porch over the next three weeks to see how it’s going.
Did I say yet how excited I am to get to Holy Hill? ;-)
Today’s elder idea: The tag line on the Holy Hill website:
A retreat centre where people of all faiths can immerse themselves in silence, solitude, and beauty along the west coast of Ireland.
For more on Holy Hill, see: http://www.holyhill.ie
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