Edinburg, Scotland
Partly Cloudy. We got ready. Kiron apologized for what he had said. We ate breakfast, and then Stacey, Jen, John, and I walked downtown to the National Gallery. I picked up my negatives. I found a bread and spice store, where I bought a 23 pound bottle of Laphroiag whiskey. I carried it in my camera case. We got to the Gallery, which opened at 10:00. I looked around, enjoying Raeburn, a Scottish painter that I think has some of the qualities of Rembrant. There were many Mc's and a lot of Titian.
Then I walked around near High and Victoria streets. I stopped in a beautiful Protestant cemetery. Sixteen-hundred's were about the oldest dates. They were more like temple fronts than graves. I had a Bunnahahbain whiskey at a pub, which was so good that I bought a bottle on my way back. We were on the bus and away at 14:00.
Durham Castle was experiencing mild weather. We checked into our rooms. I ended up with the grandest of them all. Everyone else had a single room. I got a double to myself, which gave me two rooms, a kitchen sink, a study room, another washing sink, and a whole bunch of storage space. I had little need for it all, but it felt good to have more than I needed for once. We had an elegant dinner of chicken something and more. It was wonderful. The vegetarians had asparagus crepes.
Then we sat in the pub downstairs. Elizabeth Faldet and I pretended to be snobs. I was Henry the Eight and she was the Snow Fairy. We sat looking at the stone work over 900 years old, and we would say, "Lovely Wallpaper." (We had a good time. I had read her a few stories on the bus this trip: Anansai, Tom Thumb, and Cinderella.) Then Lisa and I went to my huge double room for Bunnahahbain. Most of the others from the group joined the whiskey tasting. I gave them all just a few drops, and they liked it, at least most did. I sang the Bunnahahbain song, "Westering Home," many times differently in Scottish styles. We talked. They tried playing a drinking game, but I went into my other room and told them I would not play, drinking games were below me. I was quite snobby about it. They quit and I came back in. Drew Curtis, Becca, and John stayed latest. Then I had a bath. I went to bed at 03:00.
1993
Madison, WI
I have now moved into the Airstream Land Yacht, moved it to five miles south of Madison Wisconsin, and am in my cozy bed typing. The site is called Lake Farm Park, and it operated by Dane County Park Commission. I am the only person here, and the weather is getting colder. I could last through this all winter long, if I chose. Ok, maybe not, and tonight is my first night here, so I shouldn't get ahead of myself. The two nights previous I was in another park thirty miles away, from my work in downtown Madison. Who wants that kind of commute? And with no showers or running water spigots, it would have been a bleak existence indeed. Here I have the best showers I've ever seen anywhere outside of high society, electricity, creating a warm, clean, and a very bright evening, including the heater, and all my lights. Now the computer. Let's just say I'm getting the most out of my electricity. I'll be here, not counting short trips for the weekend and such, until November. I think I will be very comfortable, but the weather here could also be very very cold by that time, so I'll leave the possibility open to leave earlier, but I'll try not to honor it.
2002