further up and further in

Me and Good Ol' Staples

I wonder how many of you know what the title is referencing... Well, I won't tell you, but here's a hint: I feel like I've been going further up and further in these past few months, what with having the time of my life and all.  But anyways, these past few days have full of much needed recuperation and rest and avoidance of grocery shopping and errands.  I think I'm in a post spring break fog. Probably when I get back for good (ayy yi yi that is a scary thought), it will take me a month to get my feet and head back on the ground. Which I feel is a perfect amount of time, as I will have exactly a month left of summer when I return before I head back to Denison for SENIOR YEAR and an UPPER ELM apartment!  Hazah!

Interesting factoid one: J.R.R Tolkien is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.
Interesting factoid two: C.S. Lewis is Clive Staples Lewis.
Interesting factoid three: My child will be J.O. Raino-Ogden, or James OfficeMax Raino-Ogden.

I mean, not really, but Staples?? I'm concerned. And perplexed.  Regardless of crazy middle names, though, old Clive Staples (who I will now refer to as ol' Staples, because I can), is amazing.  Waking up at seven in order to go back to Oxford was actually a lot more fun that I thought it would be.  We had a great tour guide who knew so much about the different writers who had lived and studied in Oxford.  Example: Percy Bysse Shelley (of whom there was a creepy naked monument on the way to my room in Oxford) was apparently a big practical joker.  Sometimes mothers would leave their children in prams while they popped into stores to grab a quick something.  Percy would then, very sneakily, switch one woman's baby with another, so they inevitably came into Univ and told the porter, "He's doing it again!  This is not my baby!"  How very amusing. I will now read Ozymandius will a new appreciation.

The topmost window is Tolkien's!

Our tour guide also pointed out D.H. Lawrence's window and J.R.R Tolkien's window and his bust in the chapel at Exeter College.  It was awesome.  Sidenote: C.S. Lewis studied at University College, which is where I studied for a week!  HOLLA atchu Aslan!  Also, so did Mr. Bean.  (Incidentally, here is a great scene from Love Actually, involving Mr. Bean and Snape.  Lovely.)  Anyways, we walked around Oxford (we even made it into Blackwells, Dad--it was amazing).  We should have spent two hours just in the bookstore.  Then we saw the house where Tolkien wrote the majority of The Lord of the Rings.  Apparently, he used to go outside in the summer and read it to neighborhood children, just to see how he was getting on.  Aggerlack, I'm jealous.

Then we had a lovely lunch in the Eagle and Child in the Rabbit Room, and discussed The Lord of the Rings and Narnia and Harry Potter.  What could possibly be better?  A discussion with cider and black, that's what.  Which is what I had. Then we headed out to the Kilns--C.S. Lewis' home.  It was awesome, and here is yet another interesting factoid: the wardrobe that claims to be the inspiration is currently in "Chicago."  And by "Chicago," I mean Wheaton.

But anyways, C.S. Lewis was also quite the prankster.  In later life, he needed a live in nurse.  Now, this nurse was not too happy that Lewis' walls and shelves and life were completely covered in books. You could really make something of this house, if you got rid of the book, he said.  Lewis did not like this.  After, what is a life without books?  Fortunately, he didn't listen to the nurse, and needed to have his office cleaned out.  So, he told his friends to pack up ALL the books from his office and bring them over.  They did, and then piled them around the nurse's bed during the night, so that when he woke up, he was in a cage of books that inevitably fell on top of him.  They became friends after that, though.

The corner where the wardrobe would have been.

There was also once an American man who came to see Lewis, and after having three pots of tea with him, asked where the washroom was.  Lewis then led him to the wardrobe in the corner, took out a few towels and a bar of soap, and then directed him to a door down the hallway.  Through which, of course, was the washroom.  With only a bath and a sink.  Then he shut the door and walked back to the study, leaving the man to stand there for a few moments wondering what on earth he was going to do.  He finally came back out to the study and said, "I think there's been a misunderstanding..." To which Lewis replied, "Well that ought to cure you of those useless American euphemisms..."  Bahahahaha.

One more little story, then I swear I'm done.  Lewis had a cat named Tomcat who began to get quite old.  His housekeeper asked him, one day, if it wouldn't be better to put the thing down.  Lewis said no, and told the housekeeper that he was a pensioner, and that he should eat only fresh fish in his retirement.  So, for the rest of its life, Tomcat ate fresh fish.  Then one day, as Lewis and his American friend (Walter Hooper, I think) were walking down the street, Tomcat was walking in the opposite direction. As they passed, Lewis Tipped his hat to the cat, earning him a weird look from Hooper.  Lewis, however, just winked and said, "Well, he's a pensioner, you know."  Anyways, I did make it back to Bath after exploring the area around the Kilns (which really is Narnia). 

Then today was the Rugby game (Bath won!!!).  It was interesting to see a gaggle of men in unisuits--especially the one dressed like a chicken. The general feeling was of goodwill and help for poor Americans who had no idea what was happening in the game.  I got it by the end, don't worry.  Although the halftime show was something special--it involved a bunch of kids standing and waving Bath Rugby flags while six people raced down the field on those bouncy balls kids have.  The chicken was also involved in this, by the way.  Highly amusing.

So there you have it. Life a la Liza.

Hugs!
LPRO

Here is the chicken, who had stumbled away from the pack.