Spring is here... sort of

Steve Tambourine said that 'summer was on a Tuesday' last year. Well, I'm just wondering... is spring the same way? Last year we had a lovely May, so I'm hoping that in 1 1/2 weeks time spring will really be here. I'm tired of the winter coat, I'm TIRED of the boots. I' m ready for open toed shoes and flip-flops. I can't even remember the last time I wore short sleeves outside. There have been, however some lovely blooming trees springing up around the city - their singularity making them even more beautiful among the mounds of concrete.

Not much to update really. I've been working long hours with the boys this week when I should be studying. They have been stir crazy. Alex fell off his horse for the first time yesterday while attempting a jump. He got right back up and had a very good attitude about it all. I was quite proud of him. The week ended however, with James kicking a football right into Alex's face. The poor kid was covered with mud and had a split lip - but like I keep telling you all, those two aren't happy unless they draw blood so I supposed the week ended appropriately. Only about 3 1/2 more months...

Soon we are going to move out of our flat and begin our summer as house-sitters / squatters - we are looking forward to that! Until June 1, I am supposed to be avidly studying. In between studying I'm trying to sort stuff out with the University regarding tuition, CRB check, vaccinations, etc. A bit of the excitement inevitably wears off as the mundane takes over. Geordan is still faithfully helping me look after the boys when I'm in Sheffield and will fill in for me when I'm at home in Cali. Other than that he is still plugging away at that dissertation. And our house hunt for the next year continues - do we move to Sheffield or do we stay in Manchester? I think we'll put off making a decision for as long as possible...

On History, Lectures and the Hobbits who give them

I had the privilege of attending a lecture the other night on John Wesley as holy man. I truly enjoyed myself so much. While the lecture itself was invigorating and had (I thought) a few inklings of quite a fresh, very open and intriguing take on John Wesley’s links and inspirations with other denominations of the Christian faith, it wasn’t the lecture that thrilled me. It was instead, finding myself in a room of somewhat elderly snowy haired men who were passing about information about a well loved subject in the most congenial way I have ever seen academics interact. Less then a lecture, it was like getting a sneak peak into the post-war gentlemen’s clubs of yore. One man in particular could have been Bilbo Baggins, another sat at the back of the room and shouted things (much like the hobbit at Bilbo’s 111th B-Day party who grumbles stuff during Bilbo’s speech), while the speaker apologized about 20 times for not really being the ‘expert’ on the subjects at hand, and deferring to an old crony also in attendance (even though the man is widely regarded as one of the top Wesley scholars of this century). I’m not saying there weren’t some younger, sleeker guys as well. But the speaker and the men that I had the fortune of meeting that night were from a different era. I was most impressed at their interaction with the younger up-and-comers, the young historians hoping to glean from the knowledge of their older and wiser colleagues. Not only did they make time to speak with them that night, but freely offered up advice, contact information and even lunch meetings. There was a (to use a French word as I can find no English one to suite) ‘gentilesse’ about them and indeed about the whole affair. It strengthened my faith in ‘old school’ English academics- the kind best executed through direct tutor/ pupil contact. What a fun night. This, my friends, is one of the many reasons I love not only England, but also the English. Hail Britannia and long may the hobbits reign.