God Save The Queen...

...and the rest of London. This morning was most distressing. I awoke to the news of a car bomb having been discovered in the West End of London. Within hours, Buckingham Palace had been sealed off and a second car bomb had been located in the Haymarket area, also near the West End. Apparently Al-Quaida is the obvious source of these instruments.

As usual, I am waving the Anglophiliac flag with pride. Today, I would honestly join the British Army if I could. Just the thought of someone attempting such a despicable act in what I consider to be the most wonderful city on Earth (in the most wonderful country on Earth) makes my blood boil.

Today has been a busy day, but I still took the time to say a little prayer and ask God to watch over the metrop. I have been humming "Rule, Brittania" all day, and will have a cup of tea in a little while (at 4:00 of course! :-)

Thinking lovely thoughts of Harrod's...Soho...Trafalgar Square...Shaftesbury Avenue...Hyde Park...Westminster Abbey...The Tower...Park Lane...Covent Garden...St. Paul's...Big Ben...The Adelphi Theatre, where I once saw Me And My Girl with a lovely British girl. (Yes, it was one of those nights when God was in His Heaven and all was right with the world.) Actually, it's a story that bears re-telling...

In 1991, I was in London for my 21st birthday (thanks, Mum & Dad!) with a friend of mine. He and I had separated for a few hours, and were due to meet at a particular pub at 10:00. By 9:45, when I realized I was hopelessly lost, I stopped a group of girls to ask directions. Well, as it turns out, they showed me where the pub was, and I asked them to join my friend and me for a drink. They accepted, and by the end of the evening, I had a date for the following night with (in my opinion) the loveliest of the bunch. While a gentleman never kisses and tells, I think her reputation will be safe if I only mention her first name, which was Joy. The date was, without exaggeration, idyllic. We saw the play, had dinner, had a drink, and took a long walk around the city. We wound up spending the next week basically attached at the hip. (Luckily, she and my friend got along just fine.)

Of course we made all the standard promises to keep in touch, and exchanged a couple of letters and a phone call or two (this was before email.) Eventually, we lost touch and I have often thought of her. I don't know if she ever realized how perfectly perfect she made the trip for me. I hope wherever she is, she's happy and remembers our week as fondly as do I.

The memory still makes me smile.

FLT3