Mary's Muse

Still Homesick

Is this crazy or what?  I'm a tried and true red-blooded American.  So why am I homesick for England?  Well, there are several reasons.  First, it was incredibly family-friendly.  Let's just do a quick scan of some of the fun things we did that I miss.

• Warwick Castle includes authentic period indoor tours, outdoor trebuchet demonstrations, archery shows, birds of prey, jousting, iceskating.  Full of history.  Tons of fun.
• Leeds Castle we had so much fun outdoors that we never made it inside!  This castle has gorgeous grounds with two mazes and gardens galore.
• Ickworth House has an outdoors almost as fun as Leeds.  We walked a long path that led to a little chapel in a sheep field.  They also had a shaded place for kids to play close to a picnic area.
• Oxford Museum of Natural History was so much fun and free to boot!
• Pitt Rivers Museum was another museum we visited in Oxford.
• Walsingham has Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Shrine and the Slipper Chapel.

When we moved back ot the U.S., we thought that we were moving to a child-friendly, family-friendly state.  Not true.  *Family* activities for which you can buy a membership here include three people.  If you have any more than one child, you pay ... MASSIVELY.

While driving in England can tax your brain and your patience, gardening does not.  I so love that.  Basically, you buy some seeds and plant them.  The earth is rich.  Rain waters seeds steadily.  And you have a lush garden before you know it.  Yes, weeds can take over if  you're not careful.  They'll take over no matter where you live.

I would so like to be relocated to England again, even if it means letting go of half of what we own.   We missed Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and ever so many little things. We never managed to navigate through Cambridge. We never ice skated at Warwick.  We barely missed the Jane Austen Centre in Bath.  Oh, and to think that I had a chance to see Mr. Darcy's house from Pride and Prejudice and missed it!  Three years was not enough.

Chronicles of Narnia review

We just viewed Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader published by BBC published in 1990.  Wow.  Has technology ever improved since then!  The poor Centaur's movements were rather ... uh ... wavy.  Poor Aslan is motorized and can barely move!  And the costumes are too obvious.  But we have to give them credit for trying.  After all, they did what they could with what they had almost 20 years ago! 

However, so many important scenes or phrases from the book were completely missing.  For instance, Eustace never apologizes for whipping Reepicheep around by the tale which, in the movie, is impossible and then when Eustace becomes a dragon, Reepicheep forgives him in the book and they become best of friends. 

For BBC, this series seems rather low budget, though the Dawn Treader is faithfully reproduced and the costumes in the Dawn Treader adventure are more upscale.  Some parts were rushed through while others dragged on and on.  All in all, if you *must* see Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, rent (good luck getting a completely working copy) or borrow it.

After having seen Disney's Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, which has several of its own snafus as regards what it included and what it did not, the BBC versions seem to  lack emotion, pageantry, and drama.  I would certainly like to see Disney continue the series on film.  But, as many of us purists wish, I would love to direct it to see that the important aspects of Christianity that C.S. Lewis so artfully inserted into his books are faithfully portrayed.  Also, as LWW is the most popular story, there is little chance that Disney will continue the series.

Tomorrow, we watch The Silver Chair, published by BBC.  Hopefully, they were funded as well for this as for The Voyage.  Ought I to give a review of Silver Chair as well?