Originally published 9/1/16
This week we are in place, luxuriating in what I think is the greatest luxury we have and often waste: time. We are just being. Just being in Cambridge. I suspect that not many tourists we see around here have the opportunity to do that - they're so busy hopping from one destination to the next, trying to see the next castle, the next chapel, shop in the next store.
In our luxuriating, we have also been on the ground this week, walking, walking, walking. The driving here frightens me, so I much prefer the walking. It's a slower way to see things, smell the air, and experience the community. There's a lot of walking in the Bible, literally and figuratively. Noah walked with God (Gen. 6:9), Jesus healed the lame just by telling them to stand up and walk (John 5:8), Jesus walked across water (Matthew 14:25), the Psalmist walked through the valley of the shadow of death (Ps. 23), we are extolled to walk in the way of the good (Proverbs 2:20), and the list goes on, with about 314 mentions of walking. Walking is important. To me, walking means moving forward, being constructive, using energy, seeing the next thing, and therefore growing in knowledge. Walking is being present in where you are. Much more present than when on a bus, or in a car or a train. You can smell things, examine things, feel things and visit with people along the way. The English are very loquacious, and don't hesitate to strike up a conversation. That can't happen when you're enclosed in a car with your American spouse. Michael has previously referred to my walks as "death marches," but I know he appreciates them too, though he does prefer a figurative walk to a literal one. I often picture my relationship with God as a walk. On a path. Together. Sometimes I lead, sometimes I follow. I'm trying to get better at following. On Monday we went in search of the statue of Erasmus. He's a theologian who really introduced polite society, and pointed out that we should not do things like blow our nose on the street, and that perhaps we should eat with a fork. Michael wrote a big paper on him last year, so he has a particular affinity for him. We thought he was at Selwyn College, so we walked down the Backs to Selwyn, but alas, there was no statue there. The Porter, that's like a security guard in the college office, said he's at St. John's College, closer to the city center, near where we live! But they said we were welcome to walk through the college gardens.
School doesn't start here until Oct. 1, so there aren't many students here. Most of the colleges remain closed, however, because, well, I don't know why. I guess they don't want tourists tromping all over their grass. They really guard their grass here zealously. So it was a treat to go into Selwyn and see the grounds.
See the little sign in front? It says "Please don't walk on the grass." This is Selwyn College. Again, a little different from the Honeycombs at USC.
We wandered through Lammas Land, Sheeps Green and the Coe Fen, too. Those are public green spaces that have miles of trails through them. They could be city shortcuts, country walks or cycling paths. Take your pick. There weren't any lammas or sheeps, but there were some coes. That's English for Cow. Really, right in the middle of the city green space there are herds of cows.
On Tuesday, we walked to Grantchester. It took much less time than it did to punt. We laughed heartily about that. The round trip was about 7 miles. You'd never know it, though. It really is a bucolic walk through the country to the first "suburb" of Cambridge.
This is how you get to Grantchester, walking along the banks of the Cam. You can see some families under the trees, having picnics. It's a real thing the English do, have picnics.
The best thing about the walk to Grantchester is the rest at the Orchard Tea House. You sit in an orchard, under apple and pear trees, have tea, eat a scone, take a nap, read a book, chat with friends, visit with your grandmother, chase your children around. All that was happening.
We took some books to read, lounging in the deck chairs. Michael managed to sneak in a nap as well.
Wednesday we walked to Jesus Green for a picnic. We gathered supplies at Sainsbury's, the local grocer, and the Cambridge Cheese Shoppe, our favorite fromagerie. The days have been beautiful, about 75 degrees with a slight breeze, so there are many people out and about, but not so many you're crowded. We had our picnic, then then just laid on the ground and watched the English clouds go by.
Later in the afternoon we met up with Serena, Michael's House buddy, who will serve as a guide during his time here. And we got to go for another walk. Since she has a Cam Pass, a student ID that grants her (and two guests) access to all the colleges, we got to go on a top secret walk through the University grounds. It's not really all that secret, actually. We just got to walk around the grass inside the gates.
We learned that Michael will be doing a lot of walking this term. He won't only exist within the small courtyard of Westcott House, but he will venture through King's College, across the Cam to the University Library (UL) which stands about 8 stories above Cambridge. He'll cross behind the library to attend lectures at the modern DivFac (Divinity Faculty) building, and will traipse to other colleges as well. He will be walking forward with God in his studies, and across the city with thousands of other students. At the end of our walk with Serena, we stumbled upon the statue of Erasmus, much to Michael's delight. Which goes to show you, if you walk enough, you'll find what you're looking for.
That's Erasmus, at the top, and Michael at the bottom, beaming excitedly that we finally found him.
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