Yesterday took a trip for the day to Bong Recreational Area in Wisconsin, off 94 near Burlington. Remembering a trip there to smoke pot in front of the “Bong Rec Area” sign when I was in college, I naturally thought of it as a place to take the wife and kids for a day of fun. It actually turned out to be a very good choice. The place has a few different camping areas, hunting grounds, rocket launching field, horseback riding, falconry, hiking, biking, fishing, boating, ATV, snowmobile, and so on and so on. It is, apparently, the largest managed prairie in Wisconsin. What it also had, luckily, was a small warm lake, with an un-crowded little beach, immediately adjacent to a nice picnic area and park. Kids had a great time, with the exception of Katie losing her bracelet in the water.
This past summer, July 2009 to be specific, my duties as attorney-at-law required me to attend a series of meetings in London. Now, I have been to London many times, but often it has been in this kind of situation – work work work, and not an awful lot of time to do much else. Such a waste when you think about it, working when I should have been out exploring one of the most vibrant, living cities on Planet Earth.
Unfortunately, it seems, a great many people, to the extent they get to travel at all, end up traveling exactly this way, that is, for business, and have very limited time to see the place whose stamp has been entered in their passports. But I did have most of a Sunday to look around, and with that day, I was able to have a nice day in London.
I was staying at the lovely K&K Hotel, located in Earl’s Court. The staff were fantastic and friendly, and Earl’s Court (picture below)
is according to my friends at the hotel a posh little area. It also had a lot of activity on the street, and was extremely convenient to “the Tube,” which is where I was headed.
Getting off the train at the Embankment, I walked over a bridge, and found a pier, at which were sitting boats for the Circular Cruise of London. This service provides a, surprise surprise, circular tour on the Thames. Great thing is, though, the ticket is cheap, and you can get off and back on again at any stop, as you please. I rode about half of the tour, as far as St. Katharine’s Pier. During the ride I passed by, and heard interesting stories from the (Irish!) guide, regarding Blackfriar’s Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge, the H.M.S. Belfast and the Tower Bridge.
From there, I got off the boat, and had a wander around the Tower of London, beautiful from any angle, and had a look at the famous, or infamous, Traitor’s Gate.
I kept walking then, and came across Trinity Square. At a pub called the Liberty Bounds, I had the pleasure of a ploughman’s and a pint (really, several) of cider, as well as some conversation with some very friendly, and two very drunken, Londoners.
I came upon All Hallows Church, by the Tower – perhaps the oldest church in London, built atop Roman ruins, and with a small museum in the crypt.
A lot more walking followed, but it was fine, as the weather was beautiful, and there were plenty of places to stop for another cider, or later, a Pimm’s and lemonade at the Devonshire Arms in Dentham Street. Along the way were the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Pall Mall, Picadilly, the Supreme Court, Westminster Abbey – all during a comfortable walk.
The train ride back to Earl’s Court provided first rate people watching, as well as time to think about all I had seen. I found a hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant, and had a lovely dinner. From there, I just strolled – stopping everywhere, and even looking at ads for flats, contemplating what it would be like to live in this little slice of London. I took those thoughts to sleep with me for some rest and some sweet dreams.
The point of all this is not to tell you a lot about London – if you’re reading this you probably have been there, and you may know a great deal more about the place than I do. The point is this: There is always time. No matter how busy your work schedule, no matter how little time for sightseeing, you can still get a feel for…wherever you are. Get a train ticket, get your feet moving, get into the thick of things, and see what you can see.
It worked for me in London…it works for me everywhere!
Enjoy!
Writing these things, which you know will be posted on a website for all the world to see, is always a strange exercise. On the one hand, I view this thing as a bit like a diary; in fact, the only one I’m likely to have, as time just does not permit. Therefore, some of the contents are, or could be, quite personal. On the other hand, I am of course aware that anyone who wants to can read them. This dichotomy leads to an uncomfortable conclusion. I’m arrogant enough to think that anyone gives a damn what I have to say – so full of myself that I feel my innermost feeling worth preserving for posterity.
So be it. I never pretended to be anything except what I am.
At any rate, the holidays – that time of stress for all. Weeks of people running about, looking for gifts to buy, attending holiday parties, making nice with people they don’t like, pretending to care about their religion, and so on and so forth. I myself had a boat-load of stressful occurrences.
Let’s begin with my zoo. I have animals…lots of them. I got hit with a massive vet bill, right before Christmas, due to a ferret eating something he shouldn’t have, because a child can’t put his toys where they belong. Literally fills me with Christmas cheer, as I fill the ferret with antibiotics and pain meds each morning and evening.
I have children…lots of them. This time of the year is a constant process of hearing their petitions for various things, things, things that they want, and how good they’ve been, and how much they need this that and the other, and oh, I promised, don’t I remember? Makes me want to slip on a smoking jacket and appear in a Bailey’s ad, it’s just so damned full of Christmas spirit.
I have clients…many of them. They are wonderful people, each of them (and by God, if you’re reading this, you may very well be one of them). And I am forever grateful to them, as their trust in me to handle their legal matters, or provide consulting services, pays my bills and keeps me solvent in this difficult world. Moreover, I am very aware of my duty to clients, and I take their needs very seriously. Nonetheless, at this time of year when it seems everybody wants something from you, my mere existence as a customer-service entity is enough to provoke stress.
While driving the other day, down a street on which parking is allowed on both sides and shouldn’t be, I pulled to the side to let an oncoming driver pass. The idiot behind me chose not to be so courteous, so I enforced courtesy by pulling out just far enough that the oncoming driver could get through, but the idiot behind me could not get around me. Rather than a wave from the oncoming driver I had tried to help, this Mohawk-sporting cell-phone stroking post-teen likely unemployed video game playing leeching off mommy waste of breath starts swearing at me, telling me I need to learn to drive, a task I had accomplished at least a full decade before his birth. I had a quick urge to get out of the car and rip that fucking sorry excuse for a hairdo out of his empty head one lousy hair at a time.
But I didn’t…and that may be the point of this. You see, over Christmas, I had a lovely meal with my family. The next day, it snowed, and the wife and kids and I went sledding, and later ice skating and hot chocolate drinking, and I heard from a friend I have been missing for a very long time, and it was a perfect, lovely day. Truth be told, though, it was no different from any other day. I quite regularly spend time with kids and friends, wife and clients, and have fun and interesting times. The only difference is, it being the holidays, I made a decision to let the stressful things slide away, and to be happy about what I have.
And don’t you know…it worked. What if I could look at every day like a holiday? What if I could let the stressful things in life roll off my back, and focus only on the good.
Christ, what are the chances! But it is worth thinking about.
Best holiday wishes to all of you!
