I made the mistake of browsing Twitter today and was reminded yet again that every discussion ends up pitching one camp full of vitriol against another and I was consoled, not for the first time, by a wander through All Soul’s graveyard on my way to the supermarket. I love this wall of plaques partly for the beautiful carvings - at least some if not all by Cardozo-Kindersley workshop - but also for the reminder of the diversity of our city. People have long been drawn here from the four corners of the earth and we’ve been enriched by their brilliance. I am sure that these people brought diverse opinions but were able to have civilised discussions with each other - maybe we’ll get back to that one day. I like that many memorial stones say where people began their life’s journey as well as where they ended it - you don’t have to cast off one part of yourself in order to belong somewhere else. There are prestigious careers mentioned and love for families - in this city we live surrounded by people like these - often without knowing it until a neighbour appears on a news report for some discovery they’ve made or makes a comment on a government policy, and in between are people doing ‘ordinary’ jobs which are equally, if not more essential.
Weather: blow you sideways, no birds flying windy
Covid: at a Community Fridge zoom this morning the city council Covid response expert told us that cases are now a fraction of what they were, the vaccine impact is being seen and that cases are falling faster than expected- but we must not drop hands, face, space etc - it’s too soon!
Good thing: It turns out the leader of one of the other hubs is married to a man I shared my PhD bench with in 1986. He gave me a wave before heading off to his VERY important job - one of us fulfilled our potential at any rate! Oh and on the theme of this post - they’re American!
Very beautiful plaques Judith, you are blessed in Cambridge for being associated with many wise & wonderful inhabitants! It must be a rather fascinating place to visit. I wouldn’t mind one if those to remember me by myself!
What a very fascinating post. We often remark to each other that we read the most interesting obituaries of the most amazing people in the paper, yet we have never heard of many of them.
Twitter......indeed. As my hubby always says "on the internet, no-one knows you're a dog." Anonymity reigns and people can be terribly rude!
Nice collection of famous names there.
Nice collection of famous names there.