All thundercloud and livid apple blossom, and the long grey backs of the buildings

[faustus]

It is a shame that my muse - such as it is - is moved more by depression than uplift, but I felt a moment of sublimity yesterday, the first day of term proper.

The nine o'clock lecture was enlivened by the large number of historians who believed they were in the right room for their session. Plus the microphone was not working. And there was a student who needed what was surely an hour of counselling. After lunch, the first two hour session was in a room that was just too small for the students, and which was baking in the afternoon sun. The computer wasn't plugged into the AV gear so that didn't help. And the second and final two hour session, which used to be a three hour session, was just a test of stamina.

But when I came out of the Old Sessions building, headed back to the main campus, the cathedral was bathed in sunlight, and the ruins of the abbey in that corner were brilliantly illuminated. It's going to be a bumpy ride up to Christmas, but just glimpsing the environment shining that way for a few brief moments told that this is not the worst place to work.

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May you be heartened frequently!