Looking back at the Cotswolds

While it's been months since we spent time across the pond in England, I thought I would share some of the trip, especially since I teased it four months ago.

When Americans envision the English countryside, the drummed-up sight could best be found in the Cotswolds. We were lucky enough to spend two days in this area and for me, it was what I was seeking when I got off the plane sleep deprived at Heathrow.

It seems like our sojourn there was a lifetime ago, not that four months have passed since. Actually looking back on the entire trip is a surreal experience. It feels like I was never there, or that it was from another life, which in many senses, it was. But for the sake of posterity, here is a quick visual tour:

Sudeley Castle near Winchcombe. There has been a castle on the grounds since the 11th century

On-site monastery



More of the grounds







After the tour of the castle, we proceeded up for a hike in the wold up to a Neolithic barrow.





Since the trip was somewhat last minute, we were lucky to find room in a B&B in a hamlet nearby, Broadway. It's not often one sleeps in a 13th-century building that was once a granary.

We then proceeded to take another walk on the greenway - a series of right-aways through various fields and properties. Our destination was an old church outside of Broadway.





The next day we decided to hike up more pastures to Broadway Tower - a whimsy built by somebody with too much free time and money several centuries ago. The site was used traditionally for signal fires; the vista provides views for many miles over the Cotswolds.



Of course the night before we went to a pub in the town for food, pints and entertainment. But something strange happened.



ARTIST OF THE POST


Snow Patrol - Not Grey's Anatomy!!

Somebody call a doctor

Because I had no emotions at all during the first game of the NLDS between Chicago and Arizona. I didn't flinch anytime when the Cubs went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Nor did I get excited when they finally scratched out a run against Brandon Webb.

I just witnessed a very good baseball game that Arizona deserved to win. They got clutch long balls when they needed them, some good defensive plays and Webb had his nasty sinker working.

Also the pundits who say manager Lou Pinella cost his squad the game by pulling Zambrano after six innings are just nit-picking.

Last I checked Carlos Marmol was one of, if not the best reliever in baseball. Him giving up a monsterous shot to Mark Reynolds in the seventh caught me be surprised as well.



Pinella is an old-school type of manager who relies on his gut (which is ever-expanding) as much as match-up data. Would it been better if it was Zambrano who gave up the go-ahead run in the seventh inning instead of Marmol? Then he would have been criticized for leaving Big Z in the game too long.

The game I was watching had Chicago losing because of situations like the third:

Top 3rd: Chi Cubs
- C. Zambrano doubled to left center
- A. Soriano struck out swinging
- J. Jones struck out swinging
- D. Lee struck out looking

I have a feeling one of the next two games will be a slugfest. We'll see who comes out on top.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

I am rooting for the Rockies. However my allegiances will switch today when Philadelphia trots Kyle Kendrick to the mound. When I say that I have watched the kid grow up, I'm being literal. I remember writing a story about him when he was a stud Little League player.

The thing I always noticed about Kendrick is he was always humble, even if he was by far the best athlete on the baseball or football field. I interviewed with him the day he got drafted by the Phillies. He thanked every single coach he played for and his family. No ego whatsoever. It's hard not to root for a professional athlete like that.

ARTIST OF THE POST

Cat Power - Hauntingly powerful.

Guaranteeing rain on Friday

Now I try to stay positive most of the time. However there are just some forces that are beyond your control. Maybe after years of planning, I finally am getting wise to the predisposed fact that if I make plans to climb on a given day, the weather will not cooperate.

I'm not trying to be gloomy - though the skies will be on Friday. However I think my personal joke of "I should move to the Sahara because I could make it an Eden." actually has some truth to it.

When you live in Washington, rain is inevitable - in fact it is a given. For years on our drives north of the border to British Columbia, we would fictitiously sell our souls in order to appease the puissant powers that play with us like marionettes in order to garner favor for a dry day at Squamish.

It worked, and the soul mercantile continued, until we ran out of souls. So we would put the spirits of people we knew in hock - we're sorry, we're paying off the Beelzebub Pawn Shop for the return of these pristine animes.

After the move to Colorado - a locale that boasts about 300 days of sunshine a year, we thought our struggle was over. So much for assumptions. Time and time again the weather spirits laughed at our folly, and if it wasn't rain, it was snow or heavy winds.

So Friday I have plans to go to The Flatirons for a quick romp before work that afternoon. I mean this looks fun doesn't it?



A nice easy 3-pitch climb on the textured goodness that is the Flatiron's sandstone - and it even has a rappel tree to boot.



So with this in mind, I do not have to possess the meteorological acumen of my friend Jason to inform you to turn off your automated sprinkler system on Friday. A wet front will swoop down from someplace near Boulder and bring a steady drizzle through the early part of Friday into the early afternoon.

Though I do have some friends whose souls I haven't bartered with...

Devil laugh