Our Year in Cambridge

The roses have been unbelievably gorgeous this spring. They have really made my life a little bit happier. So today I am just going to post some photos I've taken over the past few weeks. Enjoy. 

The summer half-term holiday is this week, which means no school for Emma. As with the last holiday, however, we are continuing to do some schoolwork, as it helps us to structure out days. Today was the exception to the rule, however, as we decided to take a walk in Chipping Campden, one of the beautiful market towns in the Cotswolds. This required a four-hour round trip drive (unlike Dominic Cummings, we were well within or rights to make it). We really wanted Emma to see -- and walk in -- this iconic, and very beautiful, part of England. Truth be told Cambridgeshire is not the prettiest county; it is very flat and, aside from Cambridge itself, it's a little bit dull. So it was nice to drive to a part of England that was hilly and to get a change of scenery! We have found that these day-long excursions have become very meaningful to all three of us. And Richard and I are heartened that Emma seems to enjoy them as much as we do. We ate lunch sitting on this bench (below)...

The three of us played hooky yesterday and drove an hour-and-a-half to the village of Great Missenden, where Roald Dahl lived, worked, and is buried. I'd taken several walks there in the past and knew it to be a lovely area for walks. It's in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (yes, that's an official term) that is northwest of London.  It was unseasonably warm yesterday -- almost 80 F -- and very sunny. We packed a lunch and had a great day out. We find that getting out of Cambridge and into the countryside is very good for our collective mental health. Emma is getting better at walking. We did about 4 miles yesterday, having walked 4.5 miles this past weekend.  She was tired, but uncomplaining. In other news, the roses that cover the front of our house are blooming. The flowers completely cover Emma's window! There is also a bird nesting above our door. I think it's a wood pigeon. I don't hear any baby b...

Here we are at the start of Week 10 of lockdown, on another glorious sunny spring day here in England. Emma attended a very successful birthday party on Friday evening. There is a pub up the street from us that specializes in homemade pizza which does make-your-own pizzas-at-home every Friday night. The birthday girl and her mother cycled to our house and dropped on our doorstep two balls of dough, pizza sauce, and cheese, as well as a piece of birthday cake. There were seven girls who were invited and all seven got the same ingredients. The girls met on Zoom at 6 pm and had a virtual pizza-making party, which turned out to be a lot of fun. And the pizza was really delicious, too. So that's a birthday party for a nine-year-old in the age of Covid-19. Emma is still hopeful that her birthday might include a sleepover. We'll see. As usual we went for a walk this weekend, this time a bit further afield now that some restrictions have been eased. We drove about 30 minutes a...

Last Sunday evening, we watched the Prime Minister deliver a live address on the BBC, outlining his plan to ease lockdown in England. I thought he delivered the address well -- he is a far better speaker than Trump -- but the content was a little muddled and vague in places. It took reading several news articles to piece together more precisely what the plan to ease lockdown actually is. In a nutshell: Those who can't work from home should now return to work, albeit without using public transportation. This started on Monday.  As of yesterday, there is no time limit now on outdoor activities. Basically we can sunbathe without breaking the law. We are also able to take trips to national parks and beaches, and to play sports such as golf and tennis (but only with family members and with social distancing measures in place).  As of 1 June, if the virus continues to slow, students in pre-K, kindergarten and fifth grade may return to school. Some shops may also re-open....

Now into Week 8 of lockdown. We are trying to fight the good fight against boredom, anxiety, and fear. Some days are better than others. On weekdays we continue with our daily routine of schoolwork, Zoom calls, arts and crafts, and TV programs (or, for Emma, Youtube videos). There is enough going on that the days feel relatively full. There is also some variability. On Tuesdays Emma and I watch a children's astronomy session on Youtube. This is a live presentation by the Institute of Astronomy Cambridge and it's excellent. On Tuesday afternoons Emma has art club. On Wednesdays she takes an online Minecraft course called "Exploring Ancient Civilizations." On Thursday mornings she has ukulele club. And on Friday afternoons she does a yoga class. Weekends are harder for us, as we ditch the schoolwork and therefore our daily routine. This past Saturday we went for a 12 mile bike ride to Wandlebury Country Park, a place we'd never been before and knew nothing a...