ghosts and (undrunk) beer

Favourite things today: "ghost trees" and "shelley's ghost." I stumbled upon the former when I went for a walk on my lunch break. On the front lawn of a museum there were several massive trunks of trees. Upon going closer I discovered that this was an exhibit by Angela Palmer entitled "Ghost Trees." Here's what the placard, in part, said: "They are intended as 'ambassadors' for all rainforest trees, and highlight the alarming depletion of the world's natural resources. Today a tropical forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed every four seconds." The trunks themselves were very beautiful and expressive and, as it happens, haunting.

Shelley's Ghosts is an exhibit of letters, books, and things from the Shelleys and Godwins at the Bodleian. After Percy Shelley's boating death, Mary Shelley began a diary that she entitled "Journal of Sorrow." It was touching. The exhibit itself felt misnamed but I'm too tired

now to describe why.

And from the list, I thought I should consult English things. There are quite a few. Here's one from an unnamed source that I was hoping to try (even though I don't like beer!) but today resigned myself to the fact that I won't. But I can at least pass it on so others will know about it:

"next time you are in the UK drink a cask conditioned ale. It's like tasting Queen Victoria." Does he really mean a cask? An entire cask? Isn't that huge? Anyway, you can imagine how weird these amazon tree trunks would look if I had drunk the beer.