Jan 7, 2015
I'll blame my tardiness on an unrelenting bug I picked up somewhere in Edinburgh which has followed me home and has let loose its fury! I've got some energy back today, but am continuing to breeze through tissue boxes and cough drops like nobodys business.
BUT- Scotland was great! We had such a fun time and saw a lot. Maybe some more pictures will show up on here. The photo above was taken on a hike we did near Holyrood Park in Edinburgh on New Years Day. You can see the city below. This was not the summit... my phone died before we got there and I hadn't brought my real camera because it was raining and I didn't want to get it wet. Which was wise because everything else got wet. Like through all the layers. Sterling even had little ponds at the bottom of his shoes.
Oh the wind!!!
You could actually lean into the wind and not fall over. Running with the wind on the open areas was like getting running lessons from a gazelle- more distance with less effort! It helped with the upward climb because the wind was at our backs.
As for Dickens....
I enjoyed reading A Christmas Carol.
I like how Charles Dickens builds himself into his stories... he has not only put the story on paper, but his persona as a storyteller is there with the audience as they read it.
"The curtains of his bed were drawn aside; and Scrooge, starting up into a half-recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them: as close to it as I am now to you, and I am standing in spirit at your elbow."
"If you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a man more blest in a laugh than Scrooge's nephew, all I can say is, I should like to know him too."
I read Oliver Twist, and enjoyed it. One thing that struck me was that the popular quote "please sir, can I have some more?" is actually wrong! The real words are "please sir, I want some more." A small difference perhaps, but a misquote none the less. I believe the movie changed it and so most people remember the quote from the movie. There was some rather graphic violence near the end which came as a bit of a shock to me, but I realize that just because it is a book about a child, does not mean it is a children's book.
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting... I have never read Oliver Twist. I think maybe we watched a play of it one time? I don't think I have even seen the movie! Right... There is quite a difference between a book about vs. written for a child.
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