Breathing in I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out I know I am breathing out.
Breathing in I see myself as a flower.
Breathing out I feel fresh.
Breathing in I see myself as a mountain.
Breathing out I feel solid.
Breathing in I see myself as still water.
Breathing out I reflect things as they are.
Breathing in I see myself as space.
Breathing out I feel free.
– This is an exercise by Kathleen Fischer and helps to calm the mind for prayer.
Enchantment yesterday, up the glen ……… small blue butterflies. I am no expert at identification but naming them is not required. All that matters is to smile and enjoy.
Interestingly, my fill-in dentist was a very nice young woman from Poland. She only asked questions while she was looking me in the face and offered an alternative to an extensive drilling and refilling procedure. It was a concentrated fluoride solution painted onto and around the tooth in the hopes that it would continue to settle down. There were no signs of major trouble externally and it may be that this will be sufficient. If the problem recurs then a filling is the only option. The problem is that there is so little tooth left that I am not confident of success.
Oh the trials and tribulations of having grown up during and after the Second World War!
A semi-urgent visit to the dentist is on the agenda for this afternoon. A couple of my teeth are a bit fragile and one of them seems to be more fragile than is good for it. Unfortunately my own dentist is on holiday so I am having to brave one of the others in the practice. It is the case that we often get used to a particular individual and even place our confidence in them. I say “even” because like many another I am wary of having dental work done. There is something so helpless about being unable to answer questions other than with an “Arrrrgh!” (Why on earth do they insist on asking them anyway when one’s mouth is stuffed up with cotton wool and instruments?)
So – that is my day. Hope yours is better!
Of course the way things are in this country right now I should be grateful to have a dentist, even if it is a private clinic rather than NHS>
Have been spending the morning recovering from watching Andy Murray’s epic tennis match of yesterday evening. Obviously, I have to eat humble pie for my post of 24th June. But I doubt I can bear to watch his next tie against Rafael Nadal! Son #3 is crowing a bit – he is an out and out Murray fan.
There are several songs of the moment: the cheeriest is the theme tune from New Tricks Great TV reruns too.
[youtube:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nzVm_jh8AkA]
Managed to watch a film during the week, despite all the tennis. It deserves a thumbs up. A good year with Russel Crowe and director Ridley Scott. One of these films that leaves a warm and fuzzy feeling but without being overplayed or too sentimental. Five stars from me.
As well as the deer there has been an array of birds, fledglings and parents. The sparrow hawk has been absent I am glad to say, especially as favourite visitors of the moment are a woodpecker parent (Mrs I think) together with baby woodpecker. Sheer magic first thing in the morning.
Two stags for Misty to be concerned about last night! Thankfully, she was indoors which meant she could be brave without actually having to do anything more than posture and growl. This is getting to be a nightly habit.
Oh yes – her growling did see them off eventually, but they did take their time.
Work and pleasure are strange concepts when one is retired. Today I am having a meeting to do with a forthcoming marriage at which I have agreed to officiate. It is back in my last parish, which is a first and will therefore be a special pleasure and privilege. I am “helping out” and it is all bound to bring back many happy memories. In my time I have married people in various churches, on the top of an island (Easdale), on the shoreline, in hotels, at a sick-bed and in rural locations. There was always a good reason for the particular venue, and brides and bridegrooms were from around the world. Each was memorable in its own way, just as each was special to the people concerned. Sometimes there were only four people present, at others there were hundreds.
Today, I think of them all and hope and pray that life has been kind and hopes and dreams fulfilled.
