Down the Rabbit Hole

We are here--after a frightening near miss of our plane in Boston, we made it to England on Tuesday morning around 11:00. Thanks to JetBlue's known mechanical problems on our plane at RDU, we had to make an emergency landing at JFK--20 minutes before we were scheduled to land in Boston. As the temperature in the cabin neared 100 degrees, and our leisurely layover in Boston began melting away, it became quite clear that we were going to have a problem. Thanks to my parents, who were already stationed in BOS, Delta held the gate for us, as Aaron and I rushed past security, down the long moving sidewalk and up to the terminal where we were whisked in to board. And we may have had to pay off a rental car driver to get us to the correct terminal . . .

So our adventure began, and as I sit in this cottage in Oxfordshire, it's hard to imagine that we almost didn't make it. After touring the countryside over the past three days, it's hard for me to imagine being anywhere else, ever. If you've not been here, then you must know that the contrast between the green landscape and the gray skies, flecked with a constant pulse of gold, is how most days begin and end. There is something inspirational in this weather, rather than the depressing reputation it often garners. Though my summer reading has yet to be unpacked, I've been studying this place and the people with an intensity I hope not to lose over the next 7 weeks.

I feel like I've been plonked down somewhere that looks, and sometimes feels, similar to real life, but with a very different energy. As I exited Alice's Shop in Oxford this morning, I was reminded to eat whatever says, "Eat Me", and to drink whatever says, "Drink Me", and to take my chances with the Queen of Hearts, even if it means showing up for tea with a motley crew. How else should adventures begin and end?

"I wonder if I've been changed at night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, 'Who in the world am I'? Ah, that's the great puzzle!" ---Alice