10.10.2007 settled

The day started with a few hours of exchanging messages with a faraway friend about life, love, and music. Then, because it was crisp and sunny, I rode my bike out to Stourbridge Common before retiring to my narrowboat to take a nap.

After I woke up I dropped my kid off with a friend to go see a C.S. Lewis play at the ADC. I took advantage of the extra free time to walk out to take tea at The Orchard, crossing the meadow where locals believe a drunken Douglas Adams thought up the plot of his first Hitchhiker story (though he always said it happened in Austria or Spain) to walk the long way next to the river.

At some point I realized that it might be appropriate to listen to English music, but Britten would be the most obvious choice and I haven't moved any on to my phone. I scrolled through and had to choose between the Beatles, the Clash, the Cure, or the Kinks - none of which exactly scream countryside ramble. I went with the Cure because they best match the research topics of the moment and strode off through the herds of cattle.

Of course the cafe was closed so I was considering wandering up to Byron's Pool (as in the aristocrat, not one of my three best friends sporting that name) but decided to head back to town and meet a live Byron for dinner at Rice Boat. We chatted for awhile then he departed to write a book or plan lectures or whatever it is he does.

I made my daily pilgrimage to the oppressively crowded grocery store (bonus points for anyone who knows what I buy every single day). Now I'm back on the boat and about to watch a film based on an Alan Bennett play. Or perhaps a television series starring Hugh Laurie. Choices!

Do I sound settled and assimilated? Mebbe so in some respects, but here is the eerie thing: I did not speak to even one English person at all throughout the course of the day. Not even a sentence!

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