Time Traveling . . . by Dray, Hansom Cab, Carriage or Steamer.

I was the kind of child easily influenced by melodramatic romanticism and prone to fanciful daydreams of the corset and powdered-wig variety. I especially loved British history and literature. I wanted nothing more than to travel back to a time when women wore long dresses and walked across the heath to quell their broken hearts; and men wore bowler hats and pulled pocket watches out of their vests to check the time of the next train.

One of the favorite parts of my week was Sunday night, when my parents and I would gather around the t.v. to watch "Masterpiece Theatre." I remember doing this from the time I was very small, to when I lived with them after college. When I was particularly little, I never understood what was going on in the plot. The accents, the strange vocabulary, the non-remastered sound quality, all contributed to 2 hours of confusion. But that didn't matter. It was the ritual. I would lay on the couch with my parents and the music, the dialogue, the costumes would wash over me and lull me into relaxation. Eventually, as I grew, I began to look forward to the entertainment as much as the time spent with my parents. That music would start, Alastair Cooke would show up, and you would settle in for a romp through the grimy alleys of London or the moors of Wales. "Masterpiece Mystery!" was even better. Kudos to the producer who animated the works of Edward Gorey and set them to music for the opening title.

The most lasting love of my life from that series has been the character and adventures of Sherlock Holmes.http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes_(television) I have been left with an obsession with this character and his life that is one step away from papering my walls and locker with his picture. The definitive portrayal of Holmes is Jeremy Brett in the "Masterpiece" series. When the BBC was playing this series, Sunday nights were an extra special treat.

I was so happy to discover that PBS Atlanta often shows this series late on Sunday nights. Last night, I watched "The Musgrave Ritual" episode. Maybe it's because I'm far away from my family, or have read or seen every adventure Holmes has taken so many times, but when I watch the show now, I find that I have come full circle. The show brings less adventure and romanticism into my life than it does comfort, as I am flooded with memories of laying against my dad in silence for two hours, both of us sharing a love for history and mystery. I remember drifting in and out of sleep on the couch watching "I, Claudius," waking up every now and then to ask Daddy who Octavia Claudius was, or have him point out and explain to me what Hadrian's Wall is, and tell me that it's still standing, and we could go visit it.

My parents were pretty strict sometimes about what we could watch - I couldn't watch "Beavis and Butthead," deflating my attempts to bond with other 11-year-olds - but I'm so grateful that they overlooked the sex, violence, and adult themes doubtless present in the Masterpiece series and allowed me to watch it with them. I know, from now on, when I get homesick, I can turn to PBS on Sunday night, and time-travel back to that two-hour period every week I could cuddle inbetween the two people who love me the most, and all was right with the world.