Jubilee Preparations

With everything else going on in the world, you could be forgiven for not noticing there as some very significant dates coming up, and in the same year, at that.

That’s right, next year, in addition to marking Queen Elizabeth’s 60^th year on the throne, is the 10^th Anniversaries of “Postcards,” my arrival in the UK and subsequent marriage.  I decided to kick this off now because, frankly, I don’t have much else to do, and all of the significant 9-year anniversaries are now behind me:  trip to Ireland, initial trip to the UK, etc.  If I can keep the momentum going (assuming, of course, I get it rolling in the first place) we’ll have a whole year of it.  Won’t that be swell?  You’ll love it, honest.

Queen when she was inaugurated, or coronated, or whatever.

Granted, the Queen’s “Diamond Jubilee” both sounds a bit more elegant and—by virtue of the legions of serfs already working on it—should be better organized than my “Tin Jubilee,” but even with my dearth of resources I should be able to provide a few surprises, as well as a stroll or two down amnesia lane.

Me, as events are conspiring to bring me to England

Strangely, but fortuitously, enough, I ended up walking The Worth Way this morning without prior intent.  It was something that, through a combination of circumstances, simply happened.  But as I was already planning to kick off my “Ten Year Jubilee Celebrations” with this post, and the walk took me to the very first bit of real England I saw, the Tin Jubilee seemed meant to be.

The morning was warm and inviting, mirroring the sunny autumn afternoon of a decade ago when—on my first day in England, once I’d had a brief nap after landing and a spot of lunch—my future mum and father-in-law trotted me out for some local sightseeing.  I have not been back since, and the walk was filled with nostalgic epiphanies.

The Queen, as she appears now.

The first, and most impressive, was the Worth Church, dating from 900 AD.  My mind still fogs over trying to comprehend the history behind that.

I recalled the views of that landscape and how, back then, I marvelled at how unlike America they looked.  At the start of the walk, a footbridge crosses the M23 and I remember gazing down at the traffic, surprised that there was so much of it in a country like England where people still wore tweed suits and bowler hats and walked about carrying umbrellas.  And they were driving on the wrong side of the road!

Further on, I had my first encounter with a stile, right of way (the path went through a farmyard) and holly, which I had never seen in the wild before.

So I stand poised on a significant point; my tenth year stretches out before me, giving me much to think about and be thankful for.  Stay tuned.

Me now, looking a bit better than Liz,
but then she does have a few years on me.

Incidentally, isn’t tin a crap metal for a ten-year celebration?  I know it isn’t up to gold or even silver, but what about pewter?  At least you can make a beer stein out of that.