Last weekend we visited York to meet up with some old friends. It’s a place I used to visit every year when I was young, but very little felt familiar.

My memory from childhood is being dragged around the shops, usually record shops. I certainly don’t remember The Shambles, which seems to be part of the UK’s attempt to turn the country into Harry Potter land.

Yorkshire is known as God’s Own County and York is very beautiful. Apparently, Kerala and Brazil claim similar titles. If you were God, where would you choose to live?

We were surprised to learn that Constantine the Great, who converted Rome to Christianity, was proclaimed emperor in York (then called Eboracum). Blessed!

We travelled by rail and happily visited the National Railway Museum, home of a Shinkansen and The Mallard, and this battered train for transporting earth from the Channel Tunnel. This week it was 30 years since the Channel Tunnel opened on 6 May 1994.

Near the museum, we saw a Golden Eagle that had been raised in captivity, waiting patiently to be petted by tourists. It felt like a tragedy to see this beautiful creature totally tamed.

Back in Glasgow, I finally—after 6 months(!)—saw a new Subway train. Alas, I was on a train going in the other direction. It felt like the opening of Stardust Memories.

Other than that, I have been drawn to temporary fencing, which I like to imagine as the work of a single sculptor in the city.

Until next week!

The WIP #19: God's Own County