Thoughts on London

Some people seem to feel that looking at the miracles of creation—the arm of a spiral galaxy or an electron photomicrograph of a dragonfly’s wing, for example—is supposed to make a person feel small and insignificant. In my career as a science student, and later as an amateur nerd, I never foundit that way! I guess it’s a measure of how strong my ego is—but I would look at some distant nebula or some amazingly complex structure magnified twenty thousand times and I’d think “Sweeeeet” … but it never made me feel small against the creations of nature.

The creations of mankind are a whole ‘nother matter.

Need a dose of humility? Go to London. I was walking the streets once paced by people like Elizabeth the First, Winston Churchill and Charles Dickens. I mean seriously! It’s hard not to get a little intimidated—to look at one’s own quiet little life and just kind of shake one’s head.

“It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.” – Tom Lehrer

Of course Mozart didn’t hang out in London much, but Edward Elgar hung out there sometimes, and G.F. Handel lived there full time, and Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote a symphony about the place…well, you get the point.

Note to friends: this is not me being “emo” or dissatisfied with my life—please understand that no one is a bigger fan of me than…well, me! But there’s nothing wrong with a taste of humility.

Here I was, amid places where many great works of art were created, historical decisions made, great scholars born and educated, and famous entertainers launched their careers…it’s more than a bit daunting.

I fell in love with London in my two weeks there. I spent too much money, walked enough to give myself blisters, and made a lot of friends. I will go back when I can. Unless I find that giant gold meteorite I keep talking about, it may not be soon, but it will happen.

Another note to friends: I've now replaced the pictures on the other blog posts (except the first one, where it's just a pic of a Union Jack and a pic of an airplane) with pictures I (or in a couple cases, Dimmie) took. Please feel free to go look. I mean, you're here already and all.