Hang with me because I’m about to take a right hand turn tomorrow and promise that the posts that come next will be in a new direction. This one was taken in Oxford, England, while walking down a lovely lane.

I’m trying to understand why some things seem more beautiful in England than in the States. A rose that has grown up beside a well-seasoned downspout—who would have thought this would draw anyone’s attention but it did . . . and the memory lingers.

This old gate is one that C. S. Lewis would have passed many times on his way to Holy Trinity Church at Headington Quarry in England. I don’t know why I thought of this quote from Prince Caspian when I posted it last night; I just did. I hope you enjoy it, too. And if you have not read Lewis’s Narnia books, the summer is a great time to do just that—read.

“He led them to the right of the dancing trees—whether they were still dancing nobody knew, for Lucy had her eyes on the Lion and the rest had their eyes on Lucy.”

On my way to find another photo, I ran into this one and couldn’t believe that it was just sitting there waiting to be posted. Of course, it is of Big Ben taken at 11:55 am on some day over two years ago while I was in London. Has it been that long? Yes, because last May I was in the middle of a huge move.

Shakspeare wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” He’s probably right, but this rose is especially sweet because it is one of the Queen’s roses at Windsor Castle.