In a time when the governments of some of the world’s most powerful nations are ignorantly and inexcusably slashing investment in scientific research that if properly funded would benefit not only their own citizens but the world as a whole (I’m looking at you, United States), The Royal Observatory, Greenwich is celebrating its 350th anniversary.
The first visit I made to England was for the 2005 BirdFair. Having landed at Birmingham Airport, I drove a right-side steering car (the first time ever!) to Uppingham – becoming briefly bewildered on the Leicester ring road along the way – where I found my lodgings and kipped for the night. The next morning I rose, consumed a breakfast sufficient to satiate three farmhands, and strolled down the high street, where I was stopped dead in my tracks by the most exquisite butterfly I had up until that point in my life ever seen – a Peacock (Aglais io).
One of the many things I love about Great Britain is the combination of its remarkable number of natural habitats and their relative close proximity to one another. Even if time spent exploring is limited to a mere weekend, one can traverse multiple natural habitats and in the process be afforded the delights to be found observing the flora, fauna, geology, and geography each has to offer.
The challenge with life lately (say, over the past two years, give or take) is that it has been throwing me so many curve balls – or to use the British vernacular, bowling me so many googlies – that it’s been all I can do just to keep the Aspidistra flying. And one of the many ways I’ve let it fall over this time has been my neglect of proper correspondence with Mark Avery.