Friday, April 29

          Up very early with my wife to watch the Royal Wedding of William and Catherine in the wonderfully gothic Westminster Abbey.  Must be a thrill to be able to say you were married by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  Inspires me to want to read Chaucer’s, Canterbury Tales and go anglophile.  I was taken in by the pomp and circumstance, does anyone do pageantry better than the British?  Despite intellectually knowing such affairs cost too much money and are unnecessarily lavish, plus royalty is such an ancient relic of a concept, it all hit a primal nerve and I was moved by the precision of the ceremony, red uniforms, sounds of the trumpets and ringing of the bells and weight of history, making sure my daughter watched with us so she could have the kind of memories I still have of watching Charles and Diana marry years ago when about her age. I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast in honor of the festivities and we ate during the spectacle of the traditional first public kiss from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.