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.

I wanted to post something totally different—something not necessarily green and from the mountains. So what about these taken from the London Eye a couple of years ago? I think I have already posted one but not both. The Thames is below. Who knows which direction it runs—north, south, east, west. Does it really matter when you think about England and being there? It is enough just to remember what it felt like to be on “top of” that part of the world at sunset. Tomorrow is election day in the UK, and a new Prime Minister will be elected. “Polling stations in 649 constituencies across the United Kingdom will open at 0700 BST and remain open until 2200 BST.” Whoever is elected will have an office in one of the buildings in the above photo. . .  in Parliament!

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” — C.S. Lewis