This weekend is the annual Head of the Charles Regatta, which means that there are over a quarter of a million people descending upon this particular bend in the river today and tomorrow. Harvard Yard has been locked up for this duration, I guess since the idea of hundreds of thousands of people trampling the grass, taking snapshots, and trying to take a peek at the Gutenberg Bible (yes, we have it; no, you can't see it on the weekends) didn't sit well with the big mucky-mucks. Only those with identification are gaining admittance, so the Yard had an eerie medieval quality about it this morning, what with its barred gates and its tourist-free commons.

I kind of like it this way.