Center of the Circle

Yesterday began as a normal workday, with me manning the desk in an overly quiet library. Many of the students are out this week on class trips, so there's not a lot to do in terms of checking out books. I sat most of the morning reading "Station Eleven" (which is excellent, by the way).

But then a colleague asked if I knew anyone who might want to see Stonehenge. Apparently some of the students who had signed up for a field trip were suddenly unable to go, so there were spare tickets. And it wasn't just a visit to Stonehenge -- it was an evening trip billed as "Sunset at Stonehenge" which included walking among the stones.

I went to Stonehenge many years ago but usually visitors aren't permitted to go near the structure. They can only walk a paved path around its perimeter. So being able to approach the stones and see them up close was especially enticing, and after some deliberation I decided to seize the moment. After all, what else did I have to do? Read my book, then go home and watch "Seinfeld"? My fellow librarians agreed to cover the desk for the afternoon while I tagged along on the field trip.

Stonehenge, which is more than 4,000 years old, is about a two-hour drive from London -- but we had our own bus, so getting there wasn't hard. The sunset didn't quite pan out, as the sky was gray, and as the light faded it got incredibly cold out there on the windswept Salisbury Plain. I was dressed for the library, not an outdoor expedition!

But still, I'm so glad I went. Here's a little video I made so you can share the experience:

I didn't get home until about 9:30 p.m., and Dave was out as well, conducting a student concert. So Olga was lying on the couch all evening, surely wondering where we were (and where her dinner was). Her dog walker had come and gone that afternoon, though, so she was fine and was excited to see us when we finally arrived.

Before I went to bed I brought in our more tender plants. Now, as I type this, it's just above freezing.