Mr McGregor Takes Shape

This is me 20 years on. Alan Ward used the mould which he had taken of me on back in August, added a few wrinkles, white hair and a beard to create Mr McGregor. I’m happy to say that it looks nothing like me, but it’s a sobering thought that I’m going to get more and more like it when I look in the mirror as the years wear on. I’ve now got to get Mr McGregor and Alan’s model of Peter Rabbit to Huis Ten Bosch, which is near Nagasaki in southern Japan. They fit into one large suitcase, marked “Fragile” which, together with my other luggage, is quite a handful. The journey needs 5 taxis, 2 planes, 2 trains and a bus. 

Today I made the first leg of the journey to London and I had a really heartening experience at Euston Station, which I wouldn’t have had down as the friendliest place in Britain. To get from the platform to the taxi rank you need to negotiate three steep flights of stairs and to my amazement, as I stood looking helpless with my luggage at the top of each one a stranger offered to help me carry them down. I thought that only happened to blondes and little old ladies, but on reflection perhaps I look more like Mr McGregor than I’m prepared to admit.