Trip to the United Kingdom and SOSc Meeting

Although there's a lot of putting away to be done, I've finally got all my belongings (except for my cross country skis and snowshoes) into the apartment.  It was quite an undertaking and just barely accomplished the transfer before I left for a trip to the UK and the annual gathering of the Society of Ordained Scientists.

My first stop was York.  This is one of the most charming cities in England.  I love the old streets and ability to see so much by walking.  Although very tired from my flight I walked over to the minister and wandered around, guidebook in hand. I realized I had left my camera at home, so I took no pictures of the place.  They were getting ready for a concert that evening, but I was way too tired to even contemplate buying a ticket.  I went back to my hotel, ordered tea (sandwiches and sweets) around 6 pm, took a bath and crawled into bed.  I know I was asleep by 8 pm and slept until 8 the next morning.

After breakfast I bought a camera, all the while listening to the York town pipers practically outside the door of the camera shop.  So, of course, that was the first picture I took.

York Pipers

After that I walked through the city park and then along the city walls.

You can walk on top of the wall in York.

The hosts at The Willows B&B in Whitby, suggested that I take the bus rather than the train from York.  It was fascinating going over the moors and through little villages.  It was a long ride though.  They made me a pot of tea when I arrived and I sat and watched a steam-powered bus go by, shooting flames as it came to a stop.  Took a walk through the town to orient myself, but saved going up to the abbey and its 198 steps until Sunday, the next day. The ruins are not of Hild's original abbey, but much later.

Ruins of Whitby Abbey

It was blowing gale force winds on the headlands, but it was sunny and warm enough.  I went to church at St. Mary the Virgin which is just outside the abbey grounds.  It was Morning Prayer, led by a lay person since the clergy, we were told, were off at Oberammergau.  The church itself is very strange.  The arch into the choir and sanctuary is cut off by white-painted pews which form a sort of balcony around the church.  It is very difficult to see the altar.  There is one of those three-tiered pulpits in the center of the church, with the clerk's desk on the lowest level.  Reminded me of colonial-era churches in the US where preaching rather than communion was considered to be most important.  The people, however, were very pleasant and the coffee hour nice.  The view of the town on the way down from the abbey is quite impressive.

Old Town of Whitby from Abbey Steps

After a rest I walked over to the West Cliffs (the abbey is on the East Cliffs), another headland and peered down on the bathing beach below.  The brightly painted cabins are quite a treat to view.  Since it was fairly late in the day on a Sunday there weren't many people left enjoying the sunshine (and wind).  Off in the distance was a replica of Cook's sailing ship.

Whitby, West Cliffs Bathing Cabins

The next day it was supposed to rain, and it did.  I had decided I wanted to take the North Yorkshire Moors Steam Train.  It was lots of fun and the scenery fascinating, especially going through deep valleys in the moors.  The line is run entirely by volunteers and I was told they have no problem getting them. 

Steam Train from Whitby to Pickering

The next day I met some colleagues at the bus station and we were taken to Sneaton Castle (a former school) where our gathering and retreat of the Society of Ordained Scientists was held.  I didn't take any pictures there.  Whitby Abbey was visible at a distance when the fog and rain didn't hide it.  Walking the grounds of the Castle was pleasant.  The place is run by sisters of the Order of the Holy Paraclete, who are basically a teaching order.  There is no longer a school, but a lot of their work in done in Africa.  What was a school is now a conference center, and quite well run.  The chaplain, new to the place, was originally a scientist and decided to join us for our meditations and at the admittance Eucharist, became a member along with four others.  One of the new members is Moira, from Scotland.  She and I both studied chemistry and math.  Since she offered me a lift to Edinburgh, I accepted. That was my next stop, where I spent the night with Fiona, a friend from long-ago time in Vienna.  Her condo overlooks the Firth of Forth and this is the view I woke up to in the morning.  I sat and watched the fog lift a bit while I sipped coffee.

Firth of Forth

It was then off to Oban and Iona.  I booked a tour across the Isle of Mull.  The bus driver gave us a great history of the place as we went along.  It was about a two-hour ride. The scenery was beautiful—high, green, rounded mountains with waterfalls coming down from great heights; shaggy highland cattle and of course, lots of sheep of all sorts.  The little ferry to Iona runs every 15 minutes, but the big one to Oban, not so often.  Because the weather had been so bad, the last ferry of the day had been canceled and we needed to be sure we caught the three o'clock one off Iona.  It was raining when we arrived, but the sun was out when we left.

Oban to Mull Ferry

St. Colomba's Shrine

You can read the words.

Iona Abbey Buildings

Nave of Church

There were a cellist and pianist rehearsing in the nave crossing for a concert to be held in a couple of days.  I sat down and basked in the beauty of the music and the place.  Next pictures are from the cloisters.

The Cloisters at Iona

Abbey Bell

I was getting hungry so I decided to go have lunch when it decided to rain quite hard.  The sheep in the next picture looked like it was trying to get a bit of shelter from the rain.

After lunch I went for a walk along the shore in the opposite direction of the abbey.  The sky went from grey to blue over the course of my walk.  Here are a few of the things I saw.

As you can see the sky has begun to turn blue by the last picture.  I then started to walk back to the ferry terminal.  Both the sky and water are much bluer.  People were sitting on the rocks eating their lunches and waiting for the ferry to come.  I am even more amazed now that I've seen the place that St. Colomba and his 12 companions safely made the trip from Ireland to Iona and that this lovely little island became such a place of learning an pilgrimage.

The next morning I went to church at the Episcopal Church of Scotland cathedral in Oban.  They're in the process of searching for a new bishop, so the bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness celebrated and preached.  He had just spent some time camping on Mull (lots of rain) and said he probably didn't look much like a bishop that morning.  The people really like him.  One woman told me she hoped they could find someone like him to be their bishop.  The sermon basically said we need to be both Martha and Mary, not one or the other.  The bishop asked what would a church be like if everyone were Marys?  Interesting thought.  I got a really warm welcome and am glad I went.  I then grabbed my suitcase and took the noon train to Glasgow, then Edinburgh and finally to my destination, Durham.

I really did get steeped in the early saints of Ireland and Britain.  First Colomba, then in Durham, Cuthbert and Bede.  I loved the Norman towers of Durham and the history is fascinating.

Durham Cathedral

Too short a time in Durham, just like it was too short a time in York. The train was not nearly so interesting from Durham to London as it was between Edinburgh and Durham.  I loved the vistas out to the North Sea.  Got to my hotel near Victoria Station just in time to meet Doug's train from Bristol.  We had about 2 hours for dinner and talking.  Not nearly enough time.  The next morning I went for a walk to St. James Park and took a stroll.  The duck and the flowers were little treasures, but most of the treasures were in my mind.  The first time I went to London for the IAEA I stayed on the other side of the park and went for a stroll through it.  The memories were of all the wonderful scientists I got to meet and work with:  Mike Bewers, Bill Templeton, John Shepherd, George Needler, Geoff Webb, Dennis Whitehead, Jan Pentreath, Chris Garrett, Gunnar Kullenberg and so many others whose names escape me at this time like Marion's last name.

Duck in St. James' Park

Flowers, St. James' Park

Ha Ha

I've learned a new word today. While walking back from taking photos of the sheep on the hillside, I met up with one of my fellow scientists. He mentioned that they were restoring the "ha ha." I, being a very puzzled American said "huh?" or something to that effect. It turns out a ha ha is a reverse fence. A picture of which you see to the left. Instead of putting a fence around a terrace or garden which might spoil the view, the English put in a ditch to keep the sheep or cattle from messing up the pretty garden area. The one here at Launde has a herringbone brick pattern up the wall. It's quite pretty, but looks like it would be costly to put in.

Launde Abbey

I found the spot at the Abbey that has wi-fi. It's useful for me to cut down the number of e-mails I would encounter if I wait until I get to a hotel tomorrow evening. Launde Abbey is a lovely place. The Abbey sits in a low spot in hills of grass with grazing sheep. Thomas Cromwell took the Abbey as his own home when Henry VIII closed the Abbeys for their revenue. There is a pond with ducks flitting in and out of the reeds with their chicks and the grounds are planted with wonderful flowers. A walled-in vegetable garden is a short walk up a path.

The meeting so far is quite interesting. Aside from praying the Daily Office and eating meals together, we have had two talks of about a half-hour by John Polkinghorne, followed by silence and then we divide into groups of 12 for discussion. It is quite wonderful to be able to talk theology and science with people who are engaged with ideas and concepts such as the interpretation of Scripture in light of scientific knowledge (yesterday afternoon) and today with the concept of the afterlife. Our small group discussions allow us to get to know each other better and of course so do coffee and tea breaks and meals together. There's also lots of time for silence and just walking around the grounds.

Yesterday there was quite a bit of rain. Today is cooler and mostly cloudy, although it looks as though we will get a shower soon.

Peterborough, England

I've settled into the Bull Hotel in Peterborough. I arrived about 5 pm and after getting into my room I discovered that Evensong at the cathedral here was at 5:30. I heard the bells go off so I dashed off and got there just as the choir and clergy were processing, so I couldn't sit in the choir stalls, but enjoyed it none the less sitting by myself in the nave. The only thing I found odd was that in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer the Diocese for today was Pittsburgh and they prayed for its bishop "Robert Duncan" whereas the official ACP says The Rt. Revd Robert Hodges Johnson. What does that mean?? What side is Peterborough on?

Earlier this year we prayed for the Diocese of Maine, and +Chilton was still listed even though she retired in October. +Steve was listed as the Suffragen and he's now the Diocesan, but Pittsburgh is a different matter— Robert Duncan is NOT a bishop of the ECUSA.

I found this bit of history interesting. More information may be found on sacred destinations web site.

The current Anglican cathedral stands on the site of a monastic church founded by King Peada of Mercia in 655.

The monastic settlement was destroyed by Vikings in 870, but was revived in 972 by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. The town surrounding the abbey was eventually named Peterburgh after the saint to whom the abbey was dedicated.

Although damaged during the struggle between the Norman invaders and local folk-hero, Hereward the Wake, the church was repaired, and continued to thrive until destroyed by fire in 1116.

This event necessitated the building of a new church, which took a total of 120 years to complete, and was consecrated in 1238.

For the last hour they've been doing change ringing at the cathedral and I can hear it very clearly from my room with the window open. That is so great. I love bells. It's much too warm to shut the window, so it will be open all night, rain or no rain.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Launde Abbey near Oakham for my retreat with the Society of Ordained Scientists.

Vienna, The Albertina

In the 1980s all the Albertina Museum had were wonderful drawings and etchings.  The new museum is really worth visiting.  They were recently given (on loan)  a large collection of impressionists and some modern works (Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Miro, Picasso, Kandinsky, Chagall, et al.) and a room of Paul Klee's work from the Carl Djerassi Collection, so now they have a permanent collection well-worth seeing. The Klees are in Austria, if I remember correctly, as sort of an offer of forgiveness by Djerassi, who was driven out by the Nazis.  Professor Djerassi, a chemist, helped develop the oral contraceptive (thank you!) and, not only has been given many awards, he writes "science-in-fiction" including plays.

My hostess and I viewed the museum today and then we had a delightful lunch in a bar-restaurant attached to the museum.  I really enjoyed the impressionists and post-impressionists, but some of the more modern pieces— well I think I need more education to understand what it is I'm looking at.  One artist seemed to just layer as much paint as possible onto the canvass.  The colors weren't even interesting, just muddy.  Oh well.

When I think of all the times, I've called my little Isabelle a foodie, and realize it's really the pot calling the kettle black.   Nearly everything I'm writing is about on this trip includes my eating and drinking experiences.

In Vienna

I've been here in Vienna for almost a week and finally have wi-fi access for my computer.  It's not that I couldn't go out to an internet cafe, but that I was too lazy to do so.  My hosts had a wireless router, but it wasn't connected and we were much too busy to hook it up.

My daughter and son-in-law and I went to the opera to see the Magic Flute on Saturday evening and it was a real treat.  Even if you can't get a ticket, you can watch the whole thing on a big-screen outside the opera house.  People bring folding chairs and sit outside.  Of course we've been having a lot of rain.  I imagine some of them got drenched.  This whole thing is quite a change from the 80s when I lived here.  They also have the libretto on small screens for each seat.  It's really nice to be able to follow the whole thing in English.  The staging was wonderful and the voices quite good.  The Staatsoper is still a magical place with its incredible chandeliers and opulence.

More to follow

The Black Flies

The black flies have attacked.  I have a bite on my scalp and on the back of my neck.  Boy they hurt.  The inject a poison that makes a fairly large welt.  You  don't feel them until after they do their dirty work.  For more on Maine black flies see my post Black Fly Season.  Hopefully the season really will be over by mid July, but with all the rain, I doubt it. 

It may be a few days before I'm back on-line, so I'm going to turn the comments off.  I fly out tomorrow after I drop Isabelle off at her friend Pat's.  Knowing me, I'll be much too jet lagged to do much for a couple of days.

Five Days to Go (And One Month to Go)

I am:

• trying to close out my work at the parish (last Sunday is July 19).
  
• packing my belongings for a move (sometime after the 19th).
  
• packing for my vacation (five days hence).
• feeling overwhelmed (now).

I have:

• found a place to move to (small town near the coast).
  
• decided that playing golf this morning is not on (and it's a sunny day)
  
• called our vet about Isabelle's pain meds (don't want her dog sitter to deal with it)
  

I need to:

• get packing material (never seem to have enough paper to wrap fragile things).
  
• call a moving company or get a U-haul (depends on whether I can find help at the other end).
  
• sign the lease for the new place (should be faxed this morning).
  
• get some exercise (see golf thing above).
  
• start saying good bye to  lots of nice people (and to those who were not so nice).
  
• pack, pack, pack
  
• get Izzie an appointment with the groomer (she's getting shaggy again)

I will not:

• be blogging much for the next three weeks (I will take pictures on holiday, but when I'll post them is another story)
  
• let the uncertainty about what is next get to me (promises, promises, promises)

This list seems to be much longer on the "I need to" side.  Prayers for calmness, please.

A Week Away

Took a much needed break a couple of weeks ago and went with my daughter to the Grand Canyon. She took this picture our first morning there.  The air was wonderfully clear.  The stars at night were magnificent.  Our conversations satisfying.  Got to see my grandson  before I flew back across the country.  Can't get better than that.