Last Days

Today is our last day in Oxford. We're off to London tomorrow and we'll fly home over the weekend. I'm looking back over the last five weeks and here is a quick overview of what I've observed.

The English have an ill-founded superiority complex and are generally unfriendly.

This is likely due to the fact that their food is terrible. Or maybe because their country is so crowded that you can never be where other people are not. Or maybe it's residual bitterness over the fact that they used to rule the world... and now they don't.

The Welsh seem more friendly, but it's probably only in comparison to the English.

This is likely due to the fact that their food is not as bad as English food. Or maybe because their country isn't nearly as crowded. Or maybe it's because they never really ruled anything and if an English king hadn't sent his pregnant queen to Wales to give birth they wouldn't even be a country anymore.

The Germans are much more friendly than either the Welsh or the English.

This is likely due to the fact that they have great food and they aren't stacked up on top of each other like the English. Maybe also, the fact that they are experiencing a period of growth and healing after two World Wars and a particularly devastating Cold War. Reunited... and it feels so good.

The French are as friendly as the Germans and didn't exhibit any of the anticipated arrogance.

This is likely due to the fact that they all eat pastries and drink wine all day long. They aren't as burly as the Germans... but burly isn't necessarily a positive descriptor for a nation's women so maybe that's another reason the French are so pleasant.

"Let's plow."

The adorable Dr. Lewis, knowing of my disdain for cities and my love of countryside, planned for a weekend in the Kyffhauser Forest while we were in Germany. We stayed in Bad Frankenhausen (I enjoyed saying Bad Frankensusan) in a B&B that backed up to the forest.

As we considered what to do in and around this little city I, of course, wanted to hike in the woods. Susan chose to drive to Lauscha, where the glass Christmas tree ornament was invented and is still handmade. So, on a clear morning, after a breakfast with the yellow jackets, the divine Mrs. L dropped us off at the head of a trail that would lead us through the Kyffhauser Forest to the Kyffhauser monument, a magnificent tribute to Wilhelm I, the Fuhrer Kaiser of the First Reich.

As Susan drove away, the boys and I walked up the hill to the trail markers. I had some concern as I read the sign that told me it was 13.7 kilometers to the monument from where I was standing. That's about 8 1/2 miles. Yes. One way. And yes. Mountains.

Are the men of the Lewis family afraid of a little 17 mile walk in the woods? I said, "Come on, ladies. Let's plow." And off we went.

First, I didn't really know the conversion rate of klicks to miles so I really didn't know how far it was going to be. Second, I figured that if the boys got tired we could always turn around and head home. We headed off into the woods on the X8 trail.

Let me say that the Kyffhauser monument is stunning. The view from the top is unequaled. We ate a light lunch and refilled all our water bottles. I soaked the boy's shirts and wet their hair and we headed back. We talked about soldiers,German history, rocks, trees, self-esteem and all sorts of things that boys and dads enjoy discussing as they hike up and down mountains. We covered the ground and the boys didn't notice how far or how hard the hike was. Barrett said, "We just had a good time." We made the hike in 8 and 1/2 hours.

I don't think the boys have slept that good since we left their own beds in west Texas. They made me very, very proud. And now they know that they're stronger and tougher than they might've believed themselves to be before that hike.