Janet Kaiser on tue 11 jan 05
A gentle, autobiographical memoir by Glenda Gordon, "Better to
Arrive" is a delightful tale of a Scottish family returning home
from Raj India, as seen through the eyes of a child. They get
caught up in the first world war and stuck in a god-forsaken
Belgian village, where they are presumed to be Bosch because of
their books, several of which are in German thanks to their
Fr=E4ulein, sadly left behind on the sub-continent.
Anyway, they sought refuge at an inn with limited accommodation
and the children were taken to their parents room where the Pater
Familie lay dying. Glennie is the narrator:
"The room was exactly like ours, with several beds and the same
sort of stove with pipe curling out through a window at the far
end. The only difference was a large chair placed across the
corner by this window, with two heavy red curtains hanging beside
it, and I guessed that if these were pulled to, the whole corner
would be blocked out and the chair become invisible. It was such
a grand chair with gilded lions carved on the arms, and high
tapering back, that it reminded me of the picture of King
Arthur's throne in my 'Knights of the Round Table' book, and I
began to wonder if he King of France had ever used it."
The parents were naturally in the better of the two rooms. When
it came to the children needing a lavatory... "Hurry up" (said
the narrator's sister, Florence) "I want to show you our
lavatory. We've never had one like it before". Filled with
curiosity... Flo bursting with impatience pulled me out on to the
landing. "There it is", she cried, pointing to a window at the
far end, "It's called Lachaise".
At first I did not grasp her meaning and then I noticed a tall
chair set across the corner by the window exactly like the one in
Father`s room except that the curtains hanging beside it were
blue, and it was more elegantly constructed with cupids bearing
wreaths of roses instead of gilded lions. As I studied the
intricate carving Flo lifted back the seat revealing a porcelain
bucket painted with flowers, and giving me a push said, "Go on,
try it."
Climbing up the step I unbuttoned my knickers and settled myself
gingerly, finding it more comfortable than anything I had
experienced before, as I could hang onto the arms to prevent
myself slipping in too far.
"Pull the cord" said Flo and I noticed a thick silken rope with a
big golden tassel on the end. As I pulled the heavy brocade
curtains closed, cutting me off from the world outside and
transporting me into a dim blue land permeated with a smell of
musty potpourri and disinfectant, where at will I could become
any personage wont to grace a throne". She then spends many hours
weaving fantasies and dreams in the seclusion of this regal
privy...
It turned out that they not the usual country inn toilets, but
were cast-off comodes complete with staging, curtains and cords
from the nearby Chateau, when it had finally modernised and had
water closets installed in their place... At the end of the book,
the Count buys back Lachaise so that young Glennie can enjoy its
special charms when visiting him and his family after the war.
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser
"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive"
R.L.Stevenson
*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>Amen! My girlfriend and I had stopped for lunch in a small
village in
>France. When I went inside to use the bathroom, I was, uh,
surprised
>to find the urinal just sitting there all by itself, naked as it
were,
>in the hall, outside the bathroom & across from the kitchen.
Most
>convenient, I suppose....
*** THE MAIL FROM Carol Ross ENDS HERE ***
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Contact: Janet Kaiser: The International Potters Path
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