"Roundheads and Ramblings"

Travelog

A Tour of Henrietta's Oxford

Posted on Wednesday, September 20, 2017 11:12 AM

For those of you just starting to read Henrietta's Journal, here's a tour of some of the scenes in the book. The pictures are fairly modern, I'm afraid--there were no cameras in 1832--but then, Oxford doesn't change all that much from one century to the next,

Henrietta and Julien met in Duke Humfrey's Reading Room, a section of the Bodleian Library dedicated to the preservation of rare medieval manuscripts. The manuscript Julien wanted to see--Digby 209--is real and as fascinating as he made it out to be. I used to have some snapshots of the cartoon sketches in its margins, but they have escaped me, so you'll have to settle for this view of the shelves and reading alcoves.

Henrietta and Julien shared their first lunch at the White Horse Pub and their second at the Turl. The Turl has now closed, I'm sad to report, but the White Horse is still the best place to hare a Ploughman's Lunch.

Here's a plate of sausage rolls.

On the second weekend Sir Ephraim invited Julien to attend church with the family at St. Michael's at the Gate on Cornmarket Street. This church with its Norman tower was built some time between 1000 and 1050, according to local records.

Other locations the young couple explored were Godestow Abbey, where Eleanor of Aquitaine was rumored to have locked up the Fair Rosamund to keep her out of the clutches of the lecherous King Henry II. (The story is entirely apocryphal.) The ruins, however, do lie close to the wonderful Trout Inn, which you might recognize if you were a fan of the "Inspector Morse" series on PBS.

Henrietta also took Julien to see the Botanic Gardens and watch the young chaps punting on the Cherwell River.

"Yankee Reconstructed"--The Pinterest Connection

Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2016 2:49 PM

I have spent this weekend putting together two Pinterest boards to provide a visual element for my newest book, Yankee Reconstructed. One of them contains some random images of various topics that arise in the unravelling of the story. Among them are political cartoons and pictures of early Ku Klux Klanners, a map of the Low Country, pictures of the Marsh Tackies being raised by two of the characters, some odd pieces of 1870's furniture from the Charleston Museum, and several views of the Old Sheldon Church whose ruins play a crucial part in the story.

The other board is set up to help you imagine what the characters might have looked like. Some of them, of course, are real people: Robert Smalls, Wade Hampton, Laura Towne, and Rufus Saxton all have their own portraits here. The other characters are fictional, but I found it useful to have concrete images in mind. So as I wrote, I looked for pictures of real people from the same time period -- people who looked the way I thought my characters might look. Their clothing and hairstyles are authentic. Some of them even bear a slight family resemblance to one another. They are as close as I can come to bringing my fictional characters to life.

I hope you'll enjoy taking a virtual trip into the setting of Yankee Reconstructed. Click on the button below to be whisked to the Pinterest boards.

RBOTT -- Exhausted

Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 5:27 PM

After. . .

17 days on vacation
3434+ miles on the road
8 different hotel rooms
3 suitcases
6 states
8000 ft. of elevation

. . . We're home, unpacked, reorganized, and exhausted. Gonna stay put for a while.

RBOTT, Day 16

Posted on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 5:46 PM

We're in Texarkana tonight, on the long road home. Today was a rough drive through El Paso, Fort Worth, and Dallas. And then, just 20 miles from our stopping point, there was a abad accident in a construction zone. After sitting in traffic in 95+ heat for an hour, we managed to get turned around and head back up an exit ramp on the shoulder, where we joined a long line of others creeping through back roads and small towns on two-lane paths. Happy to be safely settled now.

The day did bring us a lovely surprise, however. We learned that we have been chosen as one of five couples who will be honored during pre-homecoming festivities at a ceremony known as "The Kiss on the K." We can't actually be there next weekend, but it comes with some other lovely prizes. We had entered our story about how we met at Kent State, just as a lark. You can read it here if you are interested:

http://www.ksualumni.org/s/401/social.aspx?sid=401&gid=1&pgid=2470

Vacation: Animal Edition

Posted on Saturday, October 4, 2014 12:58 PM

When we arrived at our condo, we were surprised to see signs about not disturbing the wildlife. The emphasis was on the "wild", and I was reminded of that welcome sign that warned of poisonous bugs and snakes. One sign in the condo herb garden showed a picture of a bobcat, which I found tempting. Unfortunately we haven't met him. Nevertheless, we discovered that we are surrounded by unusual wildlife.

The condo managers have a pet "bearded dragon" named Gonzo, who lives in a glass box in the clubhouse. Every morning she entertains the residents who drop by to feed her worms and lettuce. She's gorgeous in an odd sort of way.

To top off the animal experience, we can look down and spot a family of white-tailed jackrabbits and a flock of Gambel's Quail who share a small clearing just below our balcony. These pictures are borrowed because, while we see them frequently, they all move too fast to catch on camera.

We start home tomorrow. Going to miss these scenes -- so different from Memphis!

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