"Catch Me!!"

I felt much more confident in understanding the importance of Lyme to the plot of Jane Austin's work Persuasion than I did in Bath. It was especially fun to visit after watching the movie the day before on the bus, though the weather could not be more opposite. After driving through the gorgeous countryside of Cornwall and Devonshire we arrived in Lyme to the excitement of all. We wandered the city . . . looking for food mostly but we happened across a fossil shop that we couldn't help going into. I hadn't known, until one of the professors informed me, that the Victorians had been extremely interested in collecting fossils and things of the past and Lyme was a hot spot for collectors. While wandering the shop I came across a giant map labeled "Green River Fossils." Who knew that I could find Utah fossils all the way in England? They also most definitely had geodes . . .

Side Note (you can skip this if you're not interesting in reminiscing): Alex Tingey - do you remember our family trip to Capitol Reef National Park when you taught me how to find geodes and we spent the whole hike finding them and breaking them open? I will always remember how fun that was and how you were the coolest cousin ever . . . I still have some of those geodes!!!

Anyways, back to Lyme. It was fun to learn something new about the hobbies of the people of the Victorian age. When we left the skinny, skinny main street we came upon this:

No wonder people have been drawn to Lyme for holiday. Though I imagine that the weather would usually be a little more blustery and wet. There was a lot going on . . . restaurants, swimming, sun bathing, ice cream eating, strolls along the Cob, etc.

After lunch most of the program converged upon the Cob. Here are a few of us (Becky, Kayla, Emilee, Kaitlyn, and Me) on the Cob.

Here is my reenactment of the infamous scene between Louisa Musgrove and Captin Wentworth. For those of you who are not familiar with this scene, let me lay it out for you. Louisa is enjoying jumping off the steps into Captain Wentworth's arms but after a few jumps he tells her she must not jump anymore or she will hurt herself. As she runs up the stairs again she insists she must and proceeds to throw herself off the steps while yelling "Catch me!" Captain Wentworth, who was clearly not prepared watches as she falls to the ground seemingly lifeless. After quite a long recovery Louisa's health returns, Captain Wentworth gets the girl of his dreams (not Louisa, you'll just have to read it), etc, etc. Of course, our focus was on the jump and treacherous fall.

The interesting thing that this reenactment brought about was the discussion about women. After reading the book, watching the movie, and seeing the Cob for myself it was interesting to make a judgement for myself. As the book says: "There was no wound, no blood, no visible bruise; but her eyes were closed, she breathed not, her face was like death." The stairs of the Cob are pretty high and if you fell off the top I'm pretty sure you would be hurt. But, if Louisa was hopping off the stairs into Captain Wentworth's arms, which she was, then she wasn't that high from the ground. If I had jumped from that high and fell down I would have been embarrassed and maybe a little scratched up but I'd most likely be fine. So here's my question . . . are women that much stronger today than they were 200 years ago? Or is it that we have been taught to be stronger mentally? Any suggestions?