Morning along the River Cam

We’re wrapping up revenue and budget forecasts, following on strong investor interest at last week’s pitch event.  I did a rough spreadsheet to show how a strong product pipeline, flat operating costs,  a modest assumptions about market share could spin millions in annual revenue within three years.  It’s a strong investment case, but only credible if we make our numbers robust and consistent, our assumptions clear and well-founded.

So I met with our financial lead in Cambridge to spend a few hours checking the data.  Then, with the evening and the next morning free, my w.wezen and I spent time wandering the cobbled streets, enjoying meals, drinks, and conversation by the punts, and walking the riverbanks and fields at sunrise.

 

The river is running high, water making Grantchester marshy and submerging  sidewalks in the Fens.  But it’s a clear, mild morning for December, with time to visit the Orchard for scones and coffee. 

 

Quieter this time of year, the deck chairs sit empty and flapping in the wind beneath trees dormant and brown.  There were a surprising number of apples still clinging to the branches, perhaps waiting for the first hard freeze to fall.

The walk was framed by early sunlight slanting through the trees, the sky reflected in metal-blue tones by River Cam.  Desultory ducks drifted past, barely bothering a glance.

   

Except for the wind, there wasn’t a sound along the riverbanks, the village as quietly contemplative as it’s citizens.