London

“When I’m in London, I long for Yorkshire and when I’m here, I ache to hear my heels clicking on the pavement.” ~Lady Mary Crawley

Ah, I understand the restlessness of Lady Mary with both London and Yorkshire so immediately within her reach. The excitement of bustling, rambunctious London—the romance of Yorkshire with its gentle dales and wild, windswept moors. Right now I am clicking my heels on the pavement of London (if rubber-soled Sketchers can be said to click) and, at the same time, yearning for Yorkshire—my family of four’s home for the last two years of the 1980’s. I’m hoping to take several pictures: our house on Catterick Garrison, each of the boy’s schools, our sleepy neighborhood, and so many of the lovely environs of the area, including the charming town of Richmond, Richmond Castle, the rushing Swale River, and much, much more. I hope all has not changed too much.

But for the next couple of days, I want to see London again, well, at least bits of it. One cannot scratch the surface of London in only a couple of days, but my husband and I would like to see the city reflected this time in our grandsons’ eyes—all the while regretting that our granddaughter and family could not make this trip. But we’ve experienced other moments through her eyes, through those things that toughen the special link between the generations as we set aside space to celebrate our family that began fifty brief years ago.

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, ”Do I dare?” and ”Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—“
                  
Maybe for me and dear old Prufrock, that is! In the meantime, I have managed a few pictures of our day in London taken after a 10-hour overnight flight from Dallas: