Precisely what I'd hoped to hear

On the train to Oxford this afternoon we were first warned that we were about to step out of the 21st century and into the 18th--that "they just refuse to catch up to the world there."  What she didn't know is that this is precisely what I'd hoped to hear.

Then upon arrival, our new Polish physicist friend, Kaz (friend of the landlord), said that he arrived here thirty years ago to study and never left & he wondered if it would be the same for me.

Later a walk through our neighborhood revealed that we live surrounded by vast parks and nature preserves with immense trees, lakes, songbirds, swans, riverways, with only bikepaths and footbridges & it seemed everyone we passed looked up and smiled with eye contact.  I think we have stepped into the pages of some book--a very pretty, meaningful kind of book with characters that all have good parts and lines.

It is quite more inspiring and comfortable than I thought it would be.  And we've not yet left the neighborhood.  To Christ Church & the center tomorrow for groceries, running shoes, and a blanket.  Truly can't fathom that these are my pages, stage movements, and lines.

And it was gloriously sunny and warm.