There is a long and glorious history of honored guests at Cambridge (and Oxford) being invited to participate at "High Table."

The origin of "High Table" goes back to the physical layout of the dining halls of English colleges at Cambridge. In those colleges, undergraduates in their commoners or scholars gown would sit at long refectory tables. At the far end of the hall, on a raised platform or dais, a table was set for the master and fellows of the college along with special invited guests who sat above the undergraduates - at the High Table. To this day, being invited to dine at "High Table" is considered a tremendous honor although now its just with the faculty of the college not the students.

Trinity College is the Cambridge affiliate considered to have the most traditional and exciting "High Table" events.

I can think of no more worthy guest to participate in this ancient and revered tradition than the great Steve Clemons!

We had a duck. His name was Caesar. He was a merganser who had gotten caught in a neighbor's trap, which badly mangle his leg. Dad, sculptor that he was, fashioned a plaster-of-paris and burlap cast which worked reasonably well. Were he in this line, he would be walking like a Brit who suffered a serious leg injury in the Great War. Of course as a merganser he would also look pretty seriously out of place, but Caesar would have been unfazed.

The You Tube clip Steve provided a couple of posts back is why I have valued TWN since I first discovered it. It takes my quest for insight places it would otherwise be unable to go.

Oh, and what WigWag said.

Vy a duck?

Vy not a chicken?

We had a chicken. Her name was Florence. My cousin closed a screen door on her neck, breaking some vertebrae, but she was one tough little white chicken. Dad fashioned a splint for her neck, even though he could reasonably have said, "Dammit, Jim, I'm an artist, not a veterinarian," but such a thought would never have crossed my father's mind.

There was no way to keep Florence's neck straight, so it healed rather askew. As a consequence, she tended to go in circles, but she was able to live an ok life - we were all very protective of her.

I am not making this up.

I should add that Dad worked as a carpenter after WWII. Because of his artist's eye and his smarts, he was the rafter cutter. The man could perform magic with a framing square and a Skilsaw. And he rescued a duck and a chicken.

God do I miss him.

I remember spending a good half-hour there, watching a duck fly
upstream and waterski to a stop, then do 180 degree fishtails
downstream, and turn around to do the same thing again. I still
think that had to be one of the smartest creatures I've ever seen!
What FUN!