I don’t think I really have experienced any of the flu-like symptoms that come with Lyme’s disease, but I have been extremely tired. I was supposed to go to Tring to visit with Jonathan Friday night, but since that involved both a long train ride and a tube transfer in London on a Friday, bank holiday weekend, I asked if it would be all right with Martin if I could stay one more night.

It was very restful. I slept in until about 9:30, and then got up and packed. Sue, Martin’s wife, was kind enough to let me use her laundry, so I got some wash done. We headed for Brockenhurst to catch the train to London (and on to Tring) only to find it was very delayed due to mechanical problems. They were kind enough to drive me to Southampton, where I caught another delayed train.

Before I left I got to see Martin’s hobby: A classic 30 foot long motor coach. It’s amazing – with luxurious seats and even a dining section.

I’m am writing this on that train now. It is very crowded, and I expect it to get worse as we get closer to London. I feel kind of bad since my suitcase is taking up one seat in addition to mine, but this train line doesn’t have the nice baggage racks, so there is no space to put it.

The coach is quite loud with conversation and laughter, but I have my earplugs/earphones and an iPod so it’s not too distracting.

For some reason I have a ton of Verve Pipe with me, so I’m listening to it as we cross the countryside. I really hope to get back to New Forest sometime, preferably on vacation. It was set aside by William the Conquerer as his private hunting range, and thus no fences were allow to be put up.

I’m not sure quite how it works, but there is a large population of horses in the Forest. They are all owned, although they roam freely. Periodic inspections insure they are healthy, and the owners are fined if they are not. It’s kinda cool, but I have to wonder what the owner’s get out of it, since I don’t believe the horses are ever ridden.

In addition, there are lots of deer, and once a year in the fall the let a large number of pigs out on the Forest to eat the acorns that fall (they are poisonous to the horses).

Monday is May Day, a bank holiday, so the streets of Lyndhurst are filled with tourists. There is a lot of bicycling, hiking, etc. as well as camping.

Sue had spent the last week on a field trip with 24 8-9 year-old students. I am constantly amazed at how much attention is given to the environment here, and that includes field trips for children. In order to understand waste, any food left after meals was weighed, and each table competed to be the one that produced the least amount. The total for the week? 450 grams.

I also learned that there are 120 bogs in the UK, and 90 of them are in the New Forest. A thick, floating crust forms on the surface that you can walk on (if you are careful) although such journeys take the bog months if not years to recover. They limit the number of such walks, and instead of just stating that to the children, they actually engage them in debate as to whether or not certain choices should be made. The kids decided that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and they could use the experience to tell others why the bogs should be preserved. Even so, as they walked the guide pointed out the trail taken by the last group through … back in October.

By bringing attention to the environment at a young age, it’s no wonder that I see certain signs of conservation that seem foreign to me, but second nature to them. Lights not in use get turned off, and almost every single light is some form of compact fluorescent (even the street lights). The cars aren’t on average tiny, but there are some very small ones. I see few trucks and even fewer SUVs. The train system is extensive (although as I’ve experienced today not exactly reliable).

And there is a tremendous amount of green here. “Greenways” are fiercely protected, so the space between towns is filled with pastures and fields. You don’t see development after development (or estate after estate as they would say here). Even the tractors are different, with extremely high, narrow wheels to minimize the damage to the soil when moving through the fields.

Of course this results in everything being more expensive. There is no way I could afford the farm I have now in the UK. But I would be more than willing to pay a little more to move toward, well, a more environmentally “conscious” existence. I’m just afraid that Americans will wake up to the fact that the environment is not free when it is too late.