Punting the River Cam

I've been under some pressure to produce a picture of myself on this blog. You can understand that is a difficult thing to do when the camera is always is my hands. The other dilemma is "posing" and being at Catherine's mercy. Well, you might recall that I was taking an online photography course along with daughter Amy. She has taken off with her assignments and is producing great stuff for her blog, scrapbooking and family memories.
She took shot of me at a house gathering two days before we left for England and just e-mailed them to me now. I like its candidness and I sure hope that in posting it, those who have been asking will be satisfied once and for all.
Thank you Amy for adopting this new hobby with such vengeance and finesse! I love your artistry and I love the moments you are capturing of our family in film. I shall have to remember to turn the lens your way from here on in!
There is one other in front of Ely that never made it to the blog -- perhaps I will ferret thru the files and post it as well. And then may your cries be forever stilled!


I don't know how Catherine took this shot - she must have simply held the camera above her head and did a blind point and shoot. Our boat companions were John and Laura with their daughter Elizabeth and her friend Rachel.

The impressive King's College flanked by her equally impressive library...yes -- Library which holds 75,000 titles including original work of Isaac Newton and William Shakespeare.

I can't believe I remembered all that!

We walked over this very bridge (Trinity Bridge) every day at least twice and probably more like four times daily. One had to cross the river to get to Great St.Mary's in the city center.

The Bridge of Sighs. Our guide regaled us with a swashbuckling tale of the executions that take place on this very bridge.

Then he added the detail that it merely transported students to the place of their annual exams and that it felt very much like going to execution.

Funny boy.

This is a statue of King Henry VI who has something to do with Kings College. Remember the shot I posted of the cows grazing in a field opposite the imposing structure of Kings?

Our guide informed us that it was this King who decreed by law to have precisely four cows to gaze at from that vantage point indefinitely!

When I asked what the point of that was he suggested the King was fond of cheeseburgers -- then he confessed that he didn't have the foggiest clue.

The only bridge with a cast iron underside - and so decorative to boot!

Our guide gave some detail about the ugly cheap brick covering this side of the building -- unmatched from the rest because the project ran dry of funds, hence the encouragement of ivy cover.

In a few years, the ivy will break down the brick well enough to start over I suppose.

How is that economical she wonders?

The little dock from which one jumps or delicately steps into the punt...

Here's my room at Robinson College with a desk and chair that now fits me like a glove.

Many late night hours and even more early morning hours were spent there - catching you up on the events of the day. I couldn't show you Catherines' room...it wouldn't be a decent thing for the public eye.

Each room shares a balconey with the room next to them and overlooks a wide expanse of trees and gardens. I took a walk back there and met up with a fireweed I think. My thumb brushed ever so slightly on something that looked like a thistle bush - it stung and welted up immediately - but it disappeared just as fast. What a strange plant.