Sunday, June 21, 2009

Have A Punt

When I was in Oxford a couple of years ago in a noisy pub, someone shouted in my ear if I'd like to have a pint; at least, that's what I thought I'd heard. Feeling thirsty, I readily agreed. Imagine my surprise when I was summarily marched out of the drinking establishment, taken to the river, and put into a wooden raft of death (or so it seemed to me)! Well, perhaps the story didn't unfold in quite this way. Nevertheless, I did find myself being punted down the lazy Cherwell on a grey spring day.




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My last post about the geese floating away on calm waters brought to mind my punting excursion. I must admit that I set out with great trepidation but ended up feeling like the Queen of the Nile.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous21 June, 2009

    Wow, a pint and a punt? Sounds good to me! Those boats look lovely, I would have loved it!

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  2. Dear Rain, I do believe a pint is a prerequisite to punting!

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  3. Anonymous21 June, 2009

    Well then punt away, it's so dang hot here today I could go for a pint! :)

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  4. Hi there ! You pass throiugh my blog and I see that you have been punted down the Cherwell river in Oxford too ... I loved it but the weather had just cleared and it was great ... I too felt like the queen of the Nile ;-)

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  5. Lynne, perhaps you ARE the Queen of the Nile, either resurrected or by descendance? It seems we all came from the same ancestors....

    Punting after a pint or two sounds grand, as long as you are not doing the panting pushing the punting pole, a good relaxing punt sounds like a fine way to release pent up tensions... :-D

    Don't know if you ever read anything by John Fowles, there is a good punting scene in his novel title "Daniel Martin".

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  6. Hello Cousin Owen: I left the poling to a charming young Lancashire lad who was relieved from time to time by my husband (no double entendres intended anywhere!)

    I've read The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Collector, and The Magus, but not Daniel Martin. Should I? Haven't looked at a Fowles book in decades. Perhaps I should go back.

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  7. A couple of years already? Eff.

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  8. Oh my goodness, I will not rise to the occasion of double entendres there, my goodness, I'm laughing too hard anyway... !!!! What a picture !!!!

    Ah, so you have read some Fowles, I should have guessed... anyway, he is really among my very, very, totally, absolutely favorite authors, I've read the Magus a few times, and also just about everything else he published. If you haven't read "Daniel Martin", I would HIGHLY recommend it, I think Fowles was in extremely fine literary form there. It was his account of travelling to Palmyra in Syria in "Daniel Martin" that inspired me to go there. I'd also give a strong "Must Read" rating to "The Ebony Tower" which is four short stories... the epynomous (Fowle's taught me that word in the opening pages of "French Lieutenant's Woman") story is pure wrritten MAGIC. And while you're at it, don't miss "A Maggot"... aw, shucks, everything he wrote is stamped with his inimitable seal of excellence. So... there's your summer reading list ! ;-D

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  9. C: Yes. In the key of F.

    Hi Owen: Thanks for the recommendations. It'll be off to the library for me now, especially as it seems this will be my last week at the salt mine. Summer reading--perfect Fowles weather.

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  10. Hopefully you have a well stocked library...

    Last week at salt mine ? Hopefully that's voluntary... but in any case, must be a relief to put down the pick-axe and take off the miner's helmet for a while ?!? Sure wish I could... (sigh)

    Will be curious to hear what you can track down Fowles-wise...

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  11. Dear O: Voluntary poverty
    with library books for free,
    high-ho high-ho--
    that's the life for me!

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