Not Even in the Western Hemisphere

Actually, I vaguely remember getting into an argument about whether the western parts of Europe were in the Western Hemisphere -- to my mind the west / east demarcation should be the prime meridian.  And that is precisely where I am, slightly west of the prime meridian, in the north of England.  This all came about through a series of non-events that turned my February into live-in Beckett play.  Since last I wrote I have been in New York twice, Boston, New Orleans, Seattle, and now Milnthorpe, UK.


View of Arnside from Arnside KnottI should give the previous cities some justice by writing them up in individual blog entries, something I have been entirely remiss at doing lately.  But for now, the present.  England is having a late-unfolding spring, but strong hints of it were in the air today.  I took a stroll this morning from my parents' house across hills and farm fields to the neighboring town of Arnside.  Arnside sits at the side the wide expanse of a shallow river; when the tide is out, as it was when I arrived, a broad mudflat is revealed.  The result is impressive views in nearly all directions, from the wooded hills directly across the water to the long brick train viaduct to the snow capped mountains in the distance.  The snow on the tops is busily melting and each sheep in the fields seemed to have two young lambs scurrying behind it as I passed by them on my way.  In all, England was a picture of serenity today.

The gist of my situation is that obtaining the visa for Colombia fell through and a number of tentative opportunities have put me into a bit of a holding cycle, though I expect to return to Colombia as a tourist, if nothing else, in May, unless something else come un-held.  Details of the past two months to follow.