cambridge

Been a busy weekend, which is of course a good thing. Despite not going to church in Cambridge like I had intended to (see previous post), I still walked over from the Common and wandered a little, mainly just the college and in between. It did take up most of the afternoon though. In particular, walking through a little of MIT was kinda strange. (It only took me 12 years to get there, but better late than never.) Seeing people studying through the library windows, I was glad to not be them...yet I also envied them a little. I had wanted to be that caliber of student back in the day but just never was, and here I am looking at people who are doing what I never had an opportunity to do, or at least squandered what opportunity I did have if it was ever there. Oh well, we all have our limitations I guess.

Another odd thing is the story behind the statue. I don't know how it got there but I'd love to find out. That's because it claims Harvard founded the college when it's fairly well-known that he didn't. The Freedom Trail guidebook actually addresses this briefly:

This park [John Harvard Mall, near the Bunker Hill Monument] was laid out in the 1940s in honor of John Harvard, a "sometime minister of God's word" who lived nearby. When Harvard died in 1638, he left his library and half his money -- some 320 books and more than 800 pounds -- to the still-unnamed college at Cambridge. In return for this generous bequest, it was ordered that the college "shalbee called Harvard College." Contrary to popular belief, John Harvard was not the college's founder, nor did he have any association with the school until he was on his deathbed.

So I guess the powers that be sometime in Harvard's history thought it'd be good to be able to claim an individual founder? Quite a testament to Harvard's unwavering commitment to the truth and factual evidence, eh? It was then as it is now.

And...more pics...

west side of the New State House, had to get away from there fast to avoid choking on the thick stench of liberalism in the air

Charles River Dam, and rain clouds that briefly forced me into the Museum of Science

Longfellow Bridge

again, better late than never

I suppose this is to be expected at an institution where apparently science is the god of the day, but it's a reminder that I wouldn't have missed some things about MIT

the John Harvard "founder" statue, ignore the random guy in the picture

entryway to the Harvard mall, statue in distance