The Scoobies

It is spring, is it not? Indeed, by all reckonings, accounts, and almanacs it is. It is also snowing. What a fright to be this poor little day lily speckled with snow or a tree full of buds caught in a cold snap.



Regardless of the weather conditions, pictures of spring flowers remind me of our friend, fair Becky, recently of Cambridge and now a resident of Brisbane, Australia. I first told you about her fabulous flower pics a few blogs ago, and now she has agreed to let me share her blog with you so that you, too, can enjoy her lovely photographs and witty reports of life in Australia.

However, you've not been properly introduced to Becky and her "tribe." Bill met the "Scoobies" at Cambridge. This is not a name they called themselves, at least not before they met Bill; no, Bill simply gave them that name, although his reason for doing so now escapes him. Below is a picture of the Scoobies on our last evening together at Cambridge. This is the only picture I have all of them together. Usually they didn't scowl over beers except for James who, just as a matter of principle, routinely scowled at me whenever I pointed a camera in his direction. Becky is in the front lower left. In a past life she was employed by Her Majesty's Foreign Service. Now she is married to James who is sitting directly across from her. Behind Becky is Simone, a former model who is currently working on a master's degree in English at York. Becky and Simone graduated with degrees in English and have a penchant for reciting Chaucer to cute little cows in Grantchester. I'm sitting behind Simone. The left side of the table is comprised of baccalaureates with English degrees, myself included. On the right side of the table you'll find the doctorates. First there is James, an Australian, who has a Ph.D. in English. He and Becky now live in Brisbane. Behind James is Ryan, the intrepid British Antarctic Survey scientist. Everyone needs to have a friend who's been to the Antarctic, and Ryan's visited the place twice now. He has a doctorate in math, as I recall; he also has two passports--Canadian and Estonian. It turns out that if you're the grandchild of an Estonian you can get an Estonian passport. And you're asking yourself, "What can my Estonian passport get me that my Canadian one won't?" It will allow you to go through the EU lines at the airports in Europe (these are faster than the non-EU lines) and permit you to qualify for employment while at Cambridge. Behind Ryan is Virginia, also an Australian. Virginia already has an M.D. and is now working on a Ph.D. in brain imaging. She needed an "healthy older female" subject for a brain scan, and I posed for the picture, although I'm still not sure I like the way the subjects were classified--older, hmmmm.



The Scoobies were so nice to include Bill (and me) in their group and without their friendship our visit to Cambridge would have not been nearly so enjoyable.

Here's a good picture of Simone and Becky, best friends, taken the day of the Wolfson College Garden Party.



So now you will have to check out Becky's flowers at her blog. After you've seen her pictures you will understand why spring flowers make me think of her, even if the petals and leaves are dusted with snow. You can find Becky's blog at: http://www.nonwhingingpom.blogspot.com/