Reunited And it Feels So Good...

I must say that I feel pretty intimidated as I sit here and write this post. Jill has been commander-in-chief of the Malden family blog since its creation and acquiring permission to contribute has been quite a task. I feel like a columnist whose future is in the hands of an Editor; wish me luck!

Some of you know Ken Fowler but many of our friends since high school do not. Ken and I were best friends all through high school. Just before our junior year his dad got a new job and moved his family out of Paradise. Ken stayed and lived with my family for 2 years so that he could graduate with his friends. We did pretty much everything together although our personalities were very different. He is the smart one, actually the genius one--he is a physicist in Switzerland working with a massive particle collider to make anti-matter and such. Ah what do I know, I'm just the averagely intelligent guy who doesn't really understand what Ken does academically or professionally. The thing that bonded us, and drove my parents crazy, was our deep love for sarcasm and witty insults--mainly aimed at each other.

Anyway, we graduated (he the Valedictorian...which I thought was spelled "valevictorian" until just now...once again he's the genius, not me) and both went off to college where we kinda lost touch for about 5 years. Ken came to my wedding in 2005 and then moved to Switzerland to do his science stuff. Since then we have kept in better touch. In December he got married to a beautiful girl named Rachelle and brought her out to Europe with him. Well, Ken and Rachelle  visited Oxford this weekend and we were able to spend a couple of days with them. Our time together was too short but it was fun. They did the Harry Potter stuff and then we did the C.S. Lewis stuff with them: Went to dinner at the Eagle and Child pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis met for lunch each week, toured C.S. Lewis' home, and wandered through the forest behind his home that inspired Narnia. We had a blast and it was great fun seeing a good friend again.

Here we are, Ken and I at C.S. Lewis' house. We were lucky enough to pass a woman who lives there and she gave us a tour though she was on her way to catch a bus. Thanks lady.

The original 'Wardrobe'

The sitting room where Lewis and his friends would "fug" up the place by shutting the doors and windows and smoking cigarettes, cigars, and pipes until the entire room was filled with smoke. It no longer smells like that but the ceiling has been restored with yellowish paint to simulate nicotine residue...classy.