Meet Ranald Macauley, who is the director, of sorts, of the Round Church. We had the priviledge of spending part of one afternoon with him. He is married to the former Susan Schaeffer, Francis and Edith Schaeffer's daughter. (Francis Schaeffer was a famous American theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor.) I love the next photo...here's a man who's a "big deal" to many people, yet he intentionally took a special interest in the kids. When he found out Tori's name was Victoria, he immediatly took her hand and gently led her to this place in the Round Church where Queen Victoria (yes, THE Queen Victoria) had placed the stone (one with her initials, "VR"--can you see it?). He told her all about it, right at her eye level...precious...
Our next person of interest is Rt. Rev. John B. Taylor, a retired bishop (one of 16) in Queen Elizabeth's Royal Court. He spoke at a weekly chapel service they have at Tyndale House, where Brad is studying. While in the Queen's Court, he had the distinction of, every Maudy Thursday, washing the queen's feet! He has since retired, but every Christmas he gets a hand-written Christmas card from the Queen, and the mail carrier salutes him when he signs for it. He remains to this day a dear friend of hers, and often has tea with her--IMAGINE! They are standing in a little English garden (we can't wait until the flowers bloom this Spring) in back of Tyndale House...
OK, we'll play a little game for the kids following along...while we were in Trinity College's Chapel, there were many statues of different people thru the centuries that had attended Trinity College and made some sort of significant contribution to society. Victoria chose this man with whom to have her picture taken because of his name. Here are some clues as to who he is. See if you can guess. First clue: He was a famous 16th century philosopher and politician. Second clue: He liked to wear big fluffy collars and pantaloons. :) Third clue: His first name has already been mentioned as a man's name on this blog. Fourth clue: His last name is a common breakfast food often served with eggs. Did anybody guess it? I'll put the answer at the end of the blog--no peeking!
Both as a science major in college and then in medical school, I studied DNA extensively. When we went to the Cavendish Laboratory, I was surprised at how moved I was. These two men who made a discovery that literally changed so much of how life and medicine is understood and studied today, did it right here...One note of interest, even with this discovery, Crick was an atheist until the day he died, and, according to the tour guide (who was a Christian), Watson is still alive but is an atheist as well...unbelievable...talk about some serious denial these men had going on! (I'm reading a book now, in fact, that mentions these two men and their discovery, called, "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist--a good read--excellent, in fact-- on apologetics.)
So, this shot just proves you can see just about anything on the streets of Cambridge. A couple of things to note: bicycles, streets made of brick, the old, the new, people WALKING (note dark colors of their clothing), posters on fence (no billboards). In particular: The moving astronaut/aluminum foil man, who called himself "The Sonic Manipulator" is one whom we have seen on two different occasions. He is doing some sort of rhythmic-rap-rhyme-jive-thing into a voice modulator of sorts that makes you want to run and scream, not necessarily in that order. Another interesting historical note...there is a small trough between the bricks of the street and the curb? Do you see it? Any ideas what it is? You history buffs, (Robbie Hinton), any ideas? It used to be a watering trough for the horses before the days of cars, with fresh water running thru the entire city...interesting, eh?
Well, that about wraps it up here in Cambridgeshire for now...until next time...
Cheerio, Dianne
P.S. Victoria is standing next to.........FRANCIS BACON......did you get it right?
