The end of the semester is fast approaching. In the spirit of trying to savor the experiences of the semester, yesterday I returned one final time to the Thames Path. It is my final ramble. I consider the Path a hallowed place in my personal geography. I don’t know if I will ever have the opportunity to return to it. At 7:30 AM I made my way to Folly Bridge to begin the 9.5 mile ramble to Abingdon, the leg that I hiked 10 years ago that started this whole adventure. I was joined by Ben Camp, one of my students this semester. Ben is the son of one of my best friends from undergraduate days who is now a colleague of mine at ACU, Jon Camp. Ben was a delightful traveling partner, much like his dad would be were he here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Traveling this leg of the Path for the third time, I was in a much better position to anticipate parts of the journey that were ahead. While it was foggy (and cold! It was below freezing through most of the morning.), Ben and I did manage to make out the Carfax Conduit across the river, a sight that 10 years ago provoked intense curiosity and wonder when I first discovered it. Ben and I completed the ramble by 11 AM with plenty of time to get a bus back to Oxford to enjoy a lunch together at Nando’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am currently sitting in a creperie in Summertown, my alternative work spot today because my regular coffee shop is not open. What gives?!! It is 8:30 AM! I’m hankering for the breakfast bap and Americano, my regular order. I’m uncertain what Tara and I have planned for today. We’ve discussed visiting the Oxford Christmas market. I know I’ll be watching World Cup football this afternoon and evening. Yesterday’s quarterfinal matches were both instant classics. The excitement and anticipation of tonight’s England-France match are palpable locally. There will not be an empty seat at any pub this evening, so I expect we’ll be watching the match at the house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking of ACU’s house in Oxford, I experienced a small “victory” of sorts yesterday. A couple weeks ago, the students and I noticed that there was not as much hot water at the house as normal. A repair person came out to address the problem, but yesterday we had almost no hot water at all. Jacque gave me permission to do some exploring downstairs. I spent a good hour or so learning more about the house’s hot water system, doing a visual sight check, and reviewing the owner’s guides I was able to find online. I figured out the problem! The house is equipped with two tankless hot water boilers. One of them was on and working; the other was flashing a reset signal. I pressed the reset button. The boiler tried, but failed, to light. I pressed the button again. Same problem. I then pressed it a third time, and it fired up! The house is now flush with glorious, hot water. I am not much of a handy person myself, so solving the hot water problem was truly a “victory.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s the weekend report from Oxford. Family and friends in Abilene, know how excited Tara and I are to see you soon. Parents of students who are following along, I hope you will let your “kids” know how proud you are of them when they return home. It has been a great privilege to walk alongside my students, to see them flourish here and to have the opportunity to play a part, however, small, in their journey. These students are a special bunch who will hold a special place in my heart for many years to come. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The end of the semester is fast approaching. In the spirit of trying to savor the experiences of the semester, yesterday I returned one final time to the Thames Path. It is my final ramble. I consider the Path a hallowed place in my personal geography. I don’t know if I will ever have the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","WB4WB4WP_MODE":"","WB4WP_PAGE_SCRIPTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_STYLES":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FONTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_HEADER":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FOOTER":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,33,31,72],"tags":[10,35,11,34],"class_list":["post-503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abingdon","category-ramble","category-thames-river","category-world-cup","tag-oxford","tag-rambling","tag-study-abroad","tag-thames-river"],"yoast_head":"\n