One last block of Sunday meetings to attend in Grimsby,
and then we’re on our way -- for me to have a several weeks visit with the Wards
in their home in Birmingham, where Martin was born and raised and completed his
undergraduate work at the University of Birmingham.
I have to admit that I was a little distracted in
church today -- due to the anticipated departure and also because of those
adorable great-nieces and nephew of mine. I CAN tell you that one sister in
Sunday School spoke of the idea that sometimes Heavenly Father puts a time lock
on the desires we express in our prayers. Meaning that sometimes, though we
have a hard time understanding why at the time, nevertheless, he wants us to
wait for the realization of the blessings. (As you will see in the weeks to
come, this was the case for me.)
The challenge of the day was to get all my stuff
packed into the two enormous suitcases I had arrived with and squeeze them into
the Ward’s minivan -- that would be on top of all the clothes and gear for two
adults and two kids and one baby, plus the whole of their random beach
paraphernalia, as well as all the odd pieces of keep-the-kids-happy-through-the-weekend
stuff! Leah told me they had considered
getting a rooftop carrier, but it turned out to be too much for their budget at
the moment. (They are teachers and off for the summer term till the beginning
of September, and you know what that means – funds are tighter than usual.) This
took much effort on Martin’s part and a lot of anxiety on mine -- that it
wasn’t going to be able to happen. After much of this way, and that way, and then
a third and fourth way of trying, kudos to Martin who finally brought it all
together! Whew, I could finally take a deep breath and let my heart beat return
to normal. Hurrah -- I am oughta there!!
Off from the north country of Lincolnshire, the
town of Grimsby, to the great industrial city of Birmingham (well, formerly, actually), in the West Midlands.
Drove straight through, making especially good time, (with only a minimum of
“but daddy, when do we get there’(s)!), arriving in just over a two hour travel
period. We passed a castle, several large manor houses, and a number of Norman
church edifices off in the distance along our way. The landscape got greener
and more rolling the further inland we came, just as Leah had described. I was
more and more in ecstasy the further south and west we travelled.
Arriving in Birmingham, affectionately known as Brummey, was like entering any large
city (from Boston to Kansas City to Sacramento), you drove through industrial
areas, past large skyscrapers, over a massive freeway system, till little by
little you reached the outlying residential segments of the city. Leah tells me
that we are in the suburb area of Selly Oaks, a mere five minutes from
downtown. (After a few odd looks when I asked something about it, I learned
that here the city center is not referred to as “downtown”, but simply as
“town.”)
After a play/tour of Katya and Ollie’s room and a
brief snooze for grandma honey bee on Ollie’s bunk, we took a lovely Sunday
early evening walk around the “hood.” At one intersection, Leah pointed out
that from this juncture, if you walked in any one of three directions you would
enter an entirely different socio-economic locality, quite evident by the
litter, or absence thereof, along the gutter’s edge. At one point in our traipse
we came across a wide greenbelt in the middle of a broad street that, if you
took it all its several-mile way, you would end up at the Cadbury works, aka
Cadbury World. (Yes, talkin’ chocolate here – the REAL stuff!) Seems it is a
very old family that has been carrying on the confectionary business for generations.
Yes, there are tours, and I look forward to one day availing myself of it!
(Come and join me!)
May I add just again how wonderful it is being in
the comforting hands of the Ward family. They are happy, easy-going folk and
easy to read!
[One exciting thing that happened this evening is
that I had been hearing about a very large Manchester Singles Conference ever
since arriving in England, never hardly imagining that there was anything I
could do to somehow make attendance happen. With these guys’ encouragement and
hand-holding, we made a call to a ward single sister here, found the website
there, and made a call that led us to a couple in charge of the whole shebang.
Sister King said she would have her husband return my call when he returned –
much later – from church responsibilities. He did call back, and to make a long
story short: though the cut-off date for
the application was two weeks past -- tomorrow, Monday, is the date for the
organizers to firm up the count with Manchester University, so Brother King said,
“And YOU are the last one on the list.” Hurray! I am in!! He said that there
are 12 singles registered from the stake here in Birmingham and he will gladly
send contact info by email. So I should be able to find new friends to travel
up with. Isn’t that cool! It will be a once in a lifetime experience, I know.]
Yes, I am in England!!
Martin and Leah’s pet name for Oliver: Ollie Doodle
Pop
Photos_
1- Olympic Google doodle: womens synchronized
swimming
2- farewell 43 Bargate, highlight of my bygone
window
3- car seat mania – Ella
4- car seat mania – Oliver
5- car seat mania – Katya
6- at home with the Wardy family/hello to 21
Weoley Ave
