Cowbright: Visit to Bangor

Today we met Ronnie's first cousin Dr. Robert Ward and his wife Renee at the University of Bangor for lunch and a quick visit. Robert is the first son of Ronnie's dad's youngest brother. He's a very bright guy and a member of Cognitive Science faculty at Bangor University in Wales. Over the past decade, he and Ronnie have published a half-dozen research papers together. Neither of their dads are living now, but I'm sure they would have been very proud of both of them and thought it was cool that they could collaborate on research while in separate countries!

His wife Renee also works at the university so we only had a couple of hours to spend with them. It would have been nice to have visited in their home and met their youngest son who we've never met but it would have meant driving an hour or more after dark on narrow, rainy streets. We opted to come on back in order to pack and get ready to leave for Southampton in the morning. The decision not to drive tonight also saved some additional wear and tear on my nerves!

Ronnie, Robert & Renee Ward

Ronnie and Renee Ward

Ronnie at University of Bangor, Wales

On the way back, the rain let up long enough for me to be able to stop and photograph a cemetery I'd wanted to shoot earlier in the week. I find all cemeteries interesting, but especially the very old ones which are so different from those we're used to seeing in the states. The vast majority of the markers are made of slate, which is plentiful here. The graves are from the 1800's and sorely neglected. It's sad to me that these people are long forgotten and their graves are not being cared for. Across the street was a newer cemetery that was in pristine condition.