Obscure memory and a building for the purpose

To the editor:
    Touring Edinburgh on crutches has been an experience. Hills are an unbelievable creation. Who would have thought that a subtle rise of elevation could be so fraught with terror for a person with three legs, none of which are working at par. Still, it has been interesting to see the location where Robert Louis Stevenson penned a few books, Adam Smith Glowered into his pages about economic vitality, and other assorted philosophers, biologists, and anesthetists found their beginnings. For an out cropping of volcanic rock its a pretty charming place even if many of the sites are off limits to crutches.
    Visiting the Camera Obscura, just down from Edinburgh Castle brought back memories of a fateful eighth grade speech that kind of set me on my path into photojournalism. Mr. Lockhart’s class was right next to Ms. Knox’s class at Skyway. Mr. L was a formidable force in trying new ideas at the school. One day we came in to his artistic portrait work. We did not know that he had so many different colored chalks squirreled away in his collection of boxes. The face on the board proved us wrong.
    We had been assigned to give speeches and like most young rascals of the time I had agreed to do a topic and be ready the following week for a speech. the week passed and suddenly I was called up front. I seem to remember Mr. L. sitting in the back of the room and it was my turn to speak: In front of the whole class! To say that I was caught off guard would be an understatement.
    I walked up to the podium with a sheet of paper and somehow managed to pull off a speech about the function of a camera obscura complete with diagrams a couple of names, and lots of schmaltzy charm. I think I got a good grade from the effort even though my sheet of paper was blank and I had only my wits to keep going.
    Edinburgh and tourists are a lot like that speech, you have to relax and let your mind fill in the gaps as you amble around the city. English bashing is a national sport here but all people are fervent loyalists to the crown. At times there is a blank sheet for understanding a world of wit that guides the humor of people.
    The camera obscura is basically the box that has a small hole in one end and the artist sits inside and on the opposite wall draws the image that appears in the small hole. This is the source for today’s cameras and special effects. It is very simple and yet in its simplicity has yielded a wide variety of unique observations about physics and light. While I did not get to go inside the actual area, the stairs were too much, I still enjoyed the memories it brought back of a class that I had fun with.
    Save some strawberries for me.