A River walk to Cambridge, loutish girls and Kindle trial

My new spectacles were available for collection from the smaller of the two Boots optician's in the centre of Cambridge. Armed with a list of optimum distances for reading and computer work, just in case, I set off on foot from Milton. A check on the extremely useful website www.raintoday.co.uk suggested that I would be spared from showers for at least an hour.

The route took me down Fen Road, across the Cambridge to Ely railway line until I reached the river and continued right along the river path. Although there was a stiff breeze, the willows in full leaf ameliorated it's effect. I made a note to return to the passage formed by the A14 road bridge in the near future as the gaudy graffiti had been refreshed with new artwork.

Beyond Baits Bite Lock, the university rowing teams were out in practice. The eight rowers sculling, the encouraging call of the cox and the trainers bellowing out commands from their bicycles as they rode on heedless of the pedestrian and other traffic in their way. Like a Mercedes, they assumed a built in right of way.

The river meandered gently, with a profusion of buttercups and yarrow on both banks. The Plough at Fen Ditton hove into view on the other side of the river, announced by the row of moored narrow boats, and then disappeared as the settlement gave way to open, sun-dappled fields, where the shadows of the clouds raced across frenetically. Picnickers, swans and ducks sparsely populated the banks. The rowing boats now sped by on into town, silhouetted against the silver speckling of the waves as the sun was in my eyes.

The chimney stack of the Cambridge Museum of Technology now acted as a distant focus and indicator of progress. More and more people were coming the other way in gentle perambulation, signalling arrival in Chesterton. I stopped briefly to query the couple picking eldlerflowers on whether they were planning on wine or cordial – to find my presumption shattered – they were going to make elderflower tea!

Talk of a drink and the wind had made me thirsty, so I stopped briefly at the Green Dragon for a an iced soft drink, before crossing the bridge with scenic views up and down the river. Passing the Museum of Technology, joggers were now in evidence and the sweep of the new white bridge reflected in the water.

Passing under Elizabeth Way onto Midsummer common, the wind suddenly became a force to fight against and I was glad that I was using the Nordic poles to help get across. Reaching the park between the Grafton Centre and town, the flower beds were in full bloom. A pigeon suned itself lazily right in the middle of the path and barely moved as I strode by. A tottering infant chased ducks who waddled out of his way in a leisurely manner.

Then it was into the maelstrom of busy shoppers and the mental peace was shattered.

This time my glasses ready at the opticians appeared to have a better prescription and I was soon back out with ten minutes to spare, waiting for the number 9 back to Milton. A gaggle of teenage girls noisily chatted and made comments, testing the older passengers around, who studiously ignored them. A flippant comment, as they seemed to be milling unusually close to me whilst getting on the bus, brought me to the centre of their attention. I was followed upstairs and two girls fooled around in the seat behind me, whilst the other videoed them and my anticipated reaction. Suddenly turning around and growling like a bear had them first screaming and then running giggling to the back of the bus. The remainder of my journey was interspersed by the repeated sound of the scream and giggles as they played back the video again and again, mixing in loud, graphically lewd comments, trying to get a rise out of the few passengers on the top deck.

The evening was spent with half an eye on the TV and the other testing out the new glasses on the Kindle that had arrived today. Having mastered downloading ebooks, most of the evening was occupied with the challenge of converting a simple picture book into a kindle ebook. Working with a linux system, the ebook manager Calibre was the first program downloaded for the task, followed by the WYSIWYG HTML editor Sigil. The original images for the children's book “Monty and the Chocolate Egg” had to be converted to greyscale, cropped and contrast enhanced for future use. Using them will be a task for another day.