An Evening With the Bard

Stratford on Avon...in Canada
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Wednesday, August 8: A few years ago, my parents, Aunt RaVae and Uncle Don, and my grandparents took a cruise to Alaska. My Gramps referred to it as "my wife's trip." (His trip would, of course, have included a fishing pole and a campfire.) I think that this fun little day in Stratford qualified as "my wife's trip" for Jason. Though I know he enjoyed our time there, the side trip to Stratford was definitely for me.

We started the day by having breakfast with the Dookherans, good friends of Jason (and now me!). We had a delightful time catching up, and we particularly enjoyed quizzing Narish, Nicholas, Ariel, and Alanna about their recent visit to Nazarene Youth Congress in St. Louis (remember NYC '95?).

Then on to Stratford. Stratford is a cute little town. I've been to Stratford, England, to see the William Shakespeare's home, grave, etc., and this little "hometown across the pond" was quaint and delightful as well. I like the British tradition of naming towns in new territories after towns in England. It must have made them feel more at home in, say, London, Ontario. Stratford is also home to the Stratfort Festival of Canada, and throughout the summery months musicals, concerts, and (of course) Shakespearean plays are constantly running.

We got great tickets to see "The Merchant of Venice." As you might expect, this prompted a long diatribe by Missy about the different themes of the play, whether Shakespeare was as anti-Semitic as his culture or commenting on it and how we in our post-20th century world will never know what it was like to see the play as his contemporaries saw it. It was like a tiny little flashback to Oxford common room conversations. Of course, as Jason hadn't ever studied "Merchant," so he was only marginally interested in my monologue and mostly just wanted a summary. The play was great. They did a fantastic job pulling out the themes of conflict and hypocrisy while keeping us laughing.

And now YOU have heard the Missy diatribe, too.

The play was certainly the thing, but we also enjoyed walking around the town, popping into the little shops, and eating ice cream as we walked along the Avon River. This was a trip of self-portraits, so enjoy our arms-length pics of Canada...