UK2018 Trip - Dec 12
Dec. 12th, 2018 04:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johncomicMy morning began with gazing out my balcony for many minutes, lost in thought. I took a series of pictures to capture the view:
more to preserve my own memory than anything else, I suppose. I was awash with many powerful feelings: a deep love for this place, gratitude for the experience of being here, sadness at the thought of leaving. I was aware that, if I lived here, this would be my view, this would be my life. There were tears, once again.
I thought about what it might actually be like to live here. Is there any chance that the honeymoon might not end? Would these views cease to charm me? Would they become routine, would I take them for granted? Would I start to notice and focus on the flaws of this place? Would life become simply plain and ordinary again? Right now this all feels unlikely, but I know enough about human nature to understand how time and familiarity affect our perceptions and feelings. I also wondered if I might find some way to rekindle this sort of magic in my life back home? I know I made some efforts in that direction last year, but got lazy and fell back into routine. Maybe this year can be different. I need to think about it.
We went out for a brief shop this morning, and I realized that I hadn't yet captured the sign on the building next door to our flat:
There is also a sign just like this directly across from our bedroom window.
I also captured the morning's sunny break on the buildings of my neighbourhood:
That Tesco is only a few steps away from the flat, so a fairly familiar place for me by now!
I saw this in Poundland:
....um, okay then. (I've been giving the impression that British culture is relentlessly stately and venerable -- clearly, that is not so.)
This afternoon I was out again, re-exploring places from earlier jaunts and finding a few new things. Down Fossgate, I decided to capture one of my fave shops:
In The Shambles, I once again saw this gift shop -- I captured it to remember the shopkeeper there who showed me wonderful kindness early in this visit:
Across the lane from there, I noticed this little statue -- the boy is carved but the basket and breads are real, how swell:
A while back, I peeked down St. Andrewgate -- today I went down the length of it, and caught the sun on a nifty old residence:
which had a snickelway behind it:
and it landed me back at the Merchant Taylors Hall on Aldwark, but today I took note of the far-off glimpse of city wall beyond the hall:
From there, my wanderings brought me back to Ogleforth, which I peeked down before... but today I walked down the length of it, and near the end found a cool old house:
Ogleforth bends around into Chapter House Street, where I was greeted by a cool old gate:
The name Chapter House made me wonder if I might have ended up near York Minster again -- and then I looked up:
Yep, I've now caught the Minster from every side:
as well as some folk working on keeping it in good repair -- once again, the British put effort into keeping their history in good and usable condition without altering its essential character:
Also found The Minster School behind it:
My path home took me past The Old White Swan:
and then by the old former boot shop across the street from M&S which I noticed last year -- but this year I noticed a plaque on it, which led me to find out who Sir Thomas Herbert was:
Below that plaque is a name sign for a snickelway I hadn't really noticed before, leading off Pavement:
I had to go in:
and was greeted by a sight which I found pretty cool:
including a sign bearing the word "Cordwainer", which I took as an omen! (Those of you who know of my fanhood will understand.)
The passage took a left turn which led me back out onto Fossgate again, where I had a new view of old roofs in the setting sun:
more to preserve my own memory than anything else, I suppose. I was awash with many powerful feelings: a deep love for this place, gratitude for the experience of being here, sadness at the thought of leaving. I was aware that, if I lived here, this would be my view, this would be my life. There were tears, once again.
I thought about what it might actually be like to live here. Is there any chance that the honeymoon might not end? Would these views cease to charm me? Would they become routine, would I take them for granted? Would I start to notice and focus on the flaws of this place? Would life become simply plain and ordinary again? Right now this all feels unlikely, but I know enough about human nature to understand how time and familiarity affect our perceptions and feelings. I also wondered if I might find some way to rekindle this sort of magic in my life back home? I know I made some efforts in that direction last year, but got lazy and fell back into routine. Maybe this year can be different. I need to think about it.
We went out for a brief shop this morning, and I realized that I hadn't yet captured the sign on the building next door to our flat:
There is also a sign just like this directly across from our bedroom window.
I also captured the morning's sunny break on the buildings of my neighbourhood:
That Tesco is only a few steps away from the flat, so a fairly familiar place for me by now!
I saw this in Poundland:
....um, okay then. (I've been giving the impression that British culture is relentlessly stately and venerable -- clearly, that is not so.)
This afternoon I was out again, re-exploring places from earlier jaunts and finding a few new things. Down Fossgate, I decided to capture one of my fave shops:
In The Shambles, I once again saw this gift shop -- I captured it to remember the shopkeeper there who showed me wonderful kindness early in this visit:
Across the lane from there, I noticed this little statue -- the boy is carved but the basket and breads are real, how swell:
A while back, I peeked down St. Andrewgate -- today I went down the length of it, and caught the sun on a nifty old residence:
which had a snickelway behind it:
and it landed me back at the Merchant Taylors Hall on Aldwark, but today I took note of the far-off glimpse of city wall beyond the hall:
From there, my wanderings brought me back to Ogleforth, which I peeked down before... but today I walked down the length of it, and near the end found a cool old house:
Ogleforth bends around into Chapter House Street, where I was greeted by a cool old gate:
The name Chapter House made me wonder if I might have ended up near York Minster again -- and then I looked up:
Yep, I've now caught the Minster from every side:
as well as some folk working on keeping it in good repair -- once again, the British put effort into keeping their history in good and usable condition without altering its essential character:
Also found The Minster School behind it:
My path home took me past The Old White Swan:
and then by the old former boot shop across the street from M&S which I noticed last year -- but this year I noticed a plaque on it, which led me to find out who Sir Thomas Herbert was:
Below that plaque is a name sign for a snickelway I hadn't really noticed before, leading off Pavement:
I had to go in:
and was greeted by a sight which I found pretty cool:
including a sign bearing the word "Cordwainer", which I took as an omen! (Those of you who know of my fanhood will understand.)
The passage took a left turn which led me back out onto Fossgate again, where I had a new view of old roofs in the setting sun:
