I've been gone!

In fact I went to Washington DC, the Georgetown part, for a conference on medieval history. It was a lot of fun to be back in Georgetown. Met my old college roommates and drove over to Alexandria for Sunday brunch. All of these are places I used to visit with my family a lot in the 60s, especially when we lived in McLean. On the way home on I-66 we got stuck in the obligatory traffic accident jam. It was a good trip, though I seem to enjoy the actual conference a bit less as I grow less young. Still, I heard some good papers, especially one on the Gesta consulum Andegavorum's description of Angevin participation in the Crusades and one about art in the Norman kingdoms of England and Sicily.

While I was listening to papers on medieval history my wife went over to the Library of Congress to view the St John's Bible, a remarkable work of modern calligraphy and manuscript illumination. Parts of it are touring the country before it settles into its permanent home at St John's Abbey in the middle of Minnesota, not far from Lake Woebegone. If it comes anywhere near where you are, treat yourself with a visit.

But it kept me away from my blogs, so there has been a brief lacuna in the posts.