Deep in Oxford?

These few photos fall short in an attempt to describe the incomprable beauty and intense energy that pervades this famous university community of Oxford. An array of quaint specialty shops housed in 17th century buildings, selling everything from maps or antiquarian books to exotic foods line sidewalks crowded with intelligent people. Interspersed among the finely decorated facades are large wooden doors which serve as entrances to college buildings and lecture halls. A feeling of the great educational tradition remains locked behind Gothic walls of stone.

I fantasized what it would take to move to England, be accepted at Oxford and to challenge myself again now as a more mature student. I sensed the joy of the intellectual stimulation of learning among the best and living in a community which has so much cultural activity, including the Ashmolean Museum and the Bodlean library. I saw myself rowing along the Thames, acquiring a taste for English ale, and taking occasional trips over to the Continent to tour Europe's greatest scenes.

Now I am back in London and my momentary ambition has been tempered by the realities of such an effort. Sometimes it easy to believe that everything is possible and others times even getting dressed is a struggle. I have made much of my life already and maybe some dreams just need to be moderated. Like a character in the Canterbury Tales, I have a journey ahead of me and its story has yet to be told.