Serendipity, Knob and Thomas Jefferson
Oh! Oh! Oh! USA! Talk about the exact opposite of Mexico – at least Mexico City and Horn Cow. In those two places, everyone lives behind high walls and sturdy gates. And according to my friends (one of whom experienced being held up at gunpoint in his own house) they really have to.
Here in the USA it’s the opposite: You can just skip across people’s lawns and right up to (and into?) their house. Take the gaff above, for example. Actually no, that gaff you had to pay to get into. But then again it’s Thomas Jefferson’s house! Yes, the Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the USA and not a bad violin player! Among other things.
It happened by accident, and was a long and horrible story: I was visiting my dear dear friends Ellen and Kelly in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Kelly knew I’m particularly and quite surprisingly fond of a cocktail he makes, Old-Fashioned. Surprisingly, because I don’t really like any whisky-related drinks.
Anyway, out came the interestingly named KNOB:
and before I knew it it was 4 o’clock in the morning and I went to bed without drinking water and without taking the contact lenses out of my eyes. So ill. So, so ill. In fact I haven’t been so ill since last time I visited the USA two years ago.
That was the day Steve and I had to drive seven hours.
As the afternoon sun lowered itself over the history-riddled billowing fields of Virginia, I could feel myself getting worse and worse, not better. Perhaps I could stop at a toilet and commit some light suicide, I thought. We took a sharp right turn off the highway and found ourselves in some absolutely charming and delightful meadows. But no toilet, no truck stop.
“Oh look, there is a sign to Monticello,” Steve said. “The?” “Thomas Jefferson’s house! That he designed! I’ve always wanted to got there!”
OK. We had to stop although it wouldn’t get us to our destination, Kill Devils Hill (yes!) until midnight. Who cares? It’s Jefferson! He stood on that porch and looked at the same incredible vista!!!!
Maybe he went through these corridors at night to get himself a glass of milk from the scullery. Or maybe not.
Huge, huge experience! And today we’re going to look at the place where The Lost Colony got lost, hopefully we can find them. Although they’re probably dead by now, this being 428 years ago.
廁所 (Chi soh – toilet)
威士忌 (Wai si gei – whisky)
唔舒服 (m syu fuk – not well)