1. Seeing all the places I used to read about when I was subbing the local paper -- Chipstead and its lake, Downe, Biggin Hill, Knockholt and Pratts Bottom.
2. Andy has been teaching me backgammon, and I'm now good enough to beat him sometimes; and for him not to hold back. I feel as if I'm starting to be interesting to play against.
3. Visiting Down House and walking the Sand Path the Darwin used to help him think. And learning something about the homelife of a great thinker. His household seems to have been a very warm and cheery place, with children sliding downstairs on a stairboard, and punting about the drawing room on a wheeled microscope stool, and the great man playing billiards with his butler.
