things to think about

Like many before me, I'd supposed that during my time in Oxford I would think about things I hadn't ever thought about before. Or, at least, think more deeply or even differently.

And I supposed correctly.

Wisdom being something of a theme in this corner of the world, I have undertaken a compare/contrast study on wisdom and foolishness.

It, I have discovered, is foolish to purchase three grocery bags filled predominantly with cans when one has to haul the grocery bags about a mile back home (somehow most of the people who already live on their campuses knew this already). It is, further, even foolisher (an unnecessary new adjective, I know, but it seems kind of cacophonic) not to double-bag the can-holding grocery bags, making the appearance of holes and tears not only probable but ineluctable. It is, perhaps even furthermore foolish, to buy, in addition to the cans, a carton of eggs.

Thankfully, I found a girl who'd bought a really big jug of water and was having similar problems.

I really miss my car.

Not that I could drive it too well here (Rebecca and Paul [both Pauls], stop laughing).

As for wisdom, I can think of quite a few wise things.

But I am not sure that I did any of them today.

I did buy a lot of stuff to make home-made food (pasta sauce, tuna, egg salad), which technically should save me money. Unfortunately, all the cooking-sense I have in my head pertains to feeding about eight people (with leftovers), so even with the half-batch I thought I was making, I have enough pasta now to feed my family once or myself for probably a week. I used to like my homemade tomato sauce before I got here, but now who knows.

And, on the foolishness side, it was also kind of silly when I had to put the bags down on the sidewalk to address a tear problem, and one of my bell peppers started rolling away (not far!). Those produce bags we have at home don't seem to have any British cousins.

This afternoon we took a walking tour of Oxford and got to see some important stuff. I must say, though, that Dean Magnuson did an incredible job of pointing out a ton of stuff on the Reformation Tour in a really short time. I miss his tour-guide abilities, and I miss being with a bunch of lawyers and law students whose interests all tend in the same direction. Diversity is good and everything, but commonality is so comfortable. There were other advantages to the Reformation Tour, too, like (1) no sun beating down (the weather here is a lot like home, actually, except I hear that it may rain any time) and (2) no tourists EVERYWHERE. We really saw a picture of Oxford that morning that I don't think I'll be seeing again this summer.

One last thing before I leave my topic -- I have also been reflecting on the wisdom of getting married. Marriage would provide a lot of cool things like (1) someone friendly to fall on if you fall asleep on the plane, (2) someone to eat your extra food, (3) someone to haul your groceries for you, (4) someone to pre-empt your foolishness (or laugh at it), (5) someone who probably wants to see about the same sites you do. Along with that deep persuasion, the Bible says it's wise, too, so I'll rest my case.

And leave the blog world to think about it.