I am enjoying Virginia Ironside’s wry look at life in No I don’t want to join a bookclub.
The following quote really made me laugh.
The five ages of man……….. (the text makes it clear it is specifically man rather than human or woman!)
Lager, Aga, Saga, Viagra, Gaga.
Yesterday I had my picnic lunch overlooking the Sound of Iona. Despite the driving rain and grey mist I realised that God is very much in the place …….. almost as if the very sands and stones resound with the echoes of all the prayers of times long ago and nearer to now. And I thought of this observation by Margaret Cropper.
Columba, disdaining the luxury of straw, used to lie on a stone, with another rounded stone for a pillow. A stone with a Celtic cross on it is preserved in Iona Cathedral and legend says that this is the very stone used by Columba for his pillow.
Remember the holy places, the Cathedral
full of gracious light, and the stillness
of the stone, with its carven capitals,
its timeworn arches, its store of
patterned grave sontes, and the hard
pillow where Columba laid his head.
An early start today – I am off the Isle of Mull to do a wedding at Creich Church. It is an idyllic spot, well worth clicking on the link for a look. When I was working in the parish, ferries were a regular feature, but I have got out of the habit now. So today is a little adventure for me and a big one for the couple. Let’s hope for good weather. Apparently, the islands have had much better weather than we have this summer, and it would be so nice to see some sunshine.
Going to the hinterland of the big city to collect a car today. At first sight I nearly baulked at the colour. As it had been specially brought up from the deep south, the salesman looked rather worried at my reaction. Women readers will understand. Men are more likely to be more interested in the 0-60 spec and the 140 bhp…..
Watch this space for a picture – if the technology will allow.
Oh yes….. it is metallic papyras. Papyras? I hear you exclaim.
Papyras.
Technology and I have never been great friends. Or rather we are friends when everything works fine. This week I have been trying to print out wedding liturgy on filefax paper. My oldest printer refused to accept the small size paper….. almost as if it was beneath it. Then it gave up altogether and took revenge by printing one word per sheet. The newer mono printer decided to churn out rubbish in sympathy.
Eventually it took Him Behind the Wheel to come to the rescue. It was done with full-size A4 paper and a guillotine.
Perhaps I should think about buying a new printer.
Being a fan of May Sarton’s journals, I was looking forward to reading another of her novels – The Magnificent Spinster. Big disappointment; it has not aged well and I saw little point to it. Strange to discover that an admired author has feet of clay and the odd failure.
Other reading material is the latest Inspector Rebus novel and another autobiographical account of the London tube bombings. One Unknown: A Powerful Account of Survival and One Woman’s Inspirational Journey to a New Life by Gill Hicks. A different and very personal perspective about one person’s individual fight after such trauma.
The trouble is that with workpeople……now you see them……now you don’t. Here is the latest pic for progress.
Sometimes it is barely believable that God is there.
Sometimes it is barely believable that we experience God present.
Sometimes it helps to remember these things.
Had a trip to Oban yesterday. I have come to the conclusion that the advertising campaign, Autumn Gold, of a few years ago, is still having an effect in this part of Scotland. The roads were busy and full of dawdlers. Only I wanted to call them by worse names.
Oh and by the way, there really is a tinge of gold appearing in some of the trees. Cue for some autumn photographs soon.
