Wednesday, May 21, 2014

May Day in Oxford

Thursday 1 May
We arose at 4 AM so we could take a little breakfast before setting out for Magdalen Bridge at 5:00.  A crowd had already gathered, but they weren't pushy, and only a few of the all-nighters were at all rambunctious.  At 6 AM, the choristers in Magdalen Tower began singing "Hymnus Eucharisticus," and the morning became magical.  With the ending peal of bells, we came down to earth, had a Full English Breakfast at the Chequers, and then followed the Morris dancers and Pagans around town, until it was well-nigh 8:30.  Time to go home and collapse.
After that early indulgence, we went for a soothing soup for dinner: Scotch broth.  All our thriftily-collected lamb bones simmered down, we strained them and picked off the meat, and in the last hour added onions, pearl barley, diced turnips, carrots, and potatoes, and in the last ten minutes, green peas. 

After all, you've got to have something green on May Day.  Like this guy.

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