My Happy Place

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  “The floor was carpetless. The whitewashed walls were in parts scrawled over with strange diagrams, and in others covered with shelves crowded with philosophical instruments, the uses of many of which were unknown to me. On one side of the fireplace, stood a bookcase filled with dingy folios; on the other, a small organ, fantastically decorated with painted carvings of medieval saints and devils. Through the half-opened door of a cupboard at the further end of the room, I saw a long array of geological specimens, surgical preparations, crucibles, retorts, and jars of chemicals; while on the mantelshelf beside me, amid a number of small objects, stood a model of the solar system, a small galvanic battery, and a microscope. Every chair had its burden. Every corner was heaped high with books. The very floor was littered over with maps, casts, papers, tracings, and learned lumber of all conceivable kinds.” “The Phantom Coach” By Amelia Edwards (1831–1892)

Something I didn't get a chance to do but wish I did was . . .

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to see more of Africa when I was there. It was a busy time of teaching and lecturing so I didn't get out much. I stayed in Kisumu, Kenya and was driven about 40 minutes out to a village each day. Most of what I saw was in the people and less in the places. Perhaps that was most important. I was "kidnapped" one afternoon and we enjoyed tea on Lake Victoria where the hyacinth bloomed on the lake.

Me with Johann, my driver
One day I'd like to go back and drive from Nairobi through Rift Valley to Kisumu. I'd also like to see Kilimanjaro. And visit Egypt.


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