More Oxford postcards.

For whom the Bell tolls:

We all know about time zones, when it’s noon in Atlanta it’s nine o’clock on the West Coast. We tend to think that as we go from zone to zone we jump an hour. But, the truth be told, a zone is not consistent through out its entire area. If you go from New York City to Chicago your clock may show an hour difference, but in reality through out the trip you would have different times. Half way between would be actually 12:30 not 12:00.

Why is that important, well it’s not really. It’s just that here in Oxford and Christ Church in particularly the time zone issue gets a bit squirrelly. We’ve all heard of Greenwich Mean Time. That is in Greenwich, about 20 miles east of London, where the big clock that set the time for all the world is located.

That placement was fairly arbitrary, it could have been placed anywhere. In fact, Oxford though that it should have been place here. It wasn’t and Christ Church is still carrying a grudge. With the rotation of the earth when it’s 12 in Greenwich it is five minutes later in Oxford.

So when all other bells in all the towers ring on the hour, five minutes later the bell in Tom Tower tolls. It’s always five minuets later in Christ Church than anywhere else in town. How’s that for carrying a hissy fit about as far as it can go?


Explain this to me:

I know that you have all seen the Japanese ducks cross the road. There is a TV feature on it each year when it happens. It seems that there is a mother duck in Tokyo who always has her brood on one side of a busy freeway. She takes care of them until it’s time to introduce them to the water, then she the takes them across the road.

It’s become a big deal and is followed by all the media. People keep a watch out when it is near the time for the crossing and on that day police stop all traffic in each direction as Mother takes them across the road. Later on the TV screens across the planet there goes mother duck followed closely by the kids. We watch the parade and then we watch them enter the water.

Well there is the same phenomenon in the Tom Quad each year. A mother duck has her brood and has picked out a place near the Mercury fountain, smack in the middle of the Quad, as her home. She has a square in the grass staked out and never strays far, unless it is to go for a dip in the fountain.

This year she has four ducklings and she has been teaching them to swim. She leads them to the fountain they jump in and she sits on the side and keeps her eye on them. If someone comes to close she will place her body between the intruder and the kids.

Okay, that’s all real cute, but here is the strange part. No one knows how she gets them out of the Quad and on to the river. According to the porters one morning when people come to work, they are gone. They aren’t really big enough to fly so know one knows how she does it.

Then the next year she’s back and the process starts all over again. I guess English ducks are more reserved that Japanese ducks, it must be in the breeding, wouldn’t you say, old boy.

Speaking of mysteries:

I arrived at Christ Church ready to stay for a couple of weeks and then do one travel week, of course there were also the long plane rides. So I made plans. I had packed four new paperbacks for the trip. They were in the bag with the textbooks that I had for the classes.

I unpacked, placed the books on the desk and paid no more attention. Then this weekend I though I should take one with me on the train to Worcester. I had a new John Stanford in paperback and I was looking forward to breaking it open. I couldn’t find them.

I don’t know where they are. I’ve torn the room apart. Looked under things, opened all the drawers, even took my bags out and went though each one, but no joy. I don’t know where they went.

I can’t image that anyone would have broken in and made off with them. I have a computer, a camera and iPod complete with speakers. Not touched. No one would break in make off with paperbacks and leave the electronics.

It is driving me crazy. Late at night right before I drop off to sleep, I think I can hear them giggling at me from somewhere in the room.