Beautiful Sunset

This morning I was getting together the material I need to facilitate tonight's 'Spiritual Journeying' group session on 'Metaphors for Life'. The weather was deceptive, the clear blue sky and sunshine looked lovely through the window from my cosy study. It wasn't until I caught the bus down to my hairdressing appointment I discovered just how cold it was!

I've now taken the first steps towards getting back to work. I've applied for a part-time secretarial job and visited the local Jobcentre.

Meanwhile the diet wandered off track over the weekend but tomorrow is another day - and that glorious red sky holds a lot of promise.

Dog-Sitting

I agreed to look after Rusty for the weekend whilst his family were away. I had an inkling beforehand that I should refuse. On Friday afternoon I took him for a long walk over the common then gave him his dinner. Whilst I was preparing my dinner, he asked to go out so I let him out in the garden. Unfortunately he found a dead bird I had no idea was there, which strangely held more appeal than the dog food supplied - but not for long. Once indoors, he sicked it back up. Not exactly something you want to be dealing with clearing up just before a guest arrives to share a meal, believe me!

Then this morning again I took him for a walk and he did his business so I felt safe leaving him for an hour or so whilst I went to the local church. Mistake. I came home to find a huge puddle, two piles of poo and more vomit. This time he ignored his bowl of dog food in favour of the soil from one of my house plants which evidently disagreed with him.

Sunday lunch doesn't hold much appeal right now!

The Not-So-White Stuff

The snow from Tesco's car park looks more like slag heaps where it has been piled in various places.

Today began murky but brightened briefly towards mid-afternoon, the sun slanting through the stained glass window of the church where a special ceremony of remembrance was taking place. Last year one of my close friends lost her grandson in a tragic road traffic accident. Recently her own son's grief was sharply rekindled by a stranger remarking that the boy's spirit couldn't rest because he hadn't been baptised. My friend turned to me and asked if it would be possible for a minister of religion to say some words over a photograph to ensure that her grandson's spirit could be at peace and provide the reassurance her son needed. Thus I was privileged to join with her in a brief but touching memorial service. The person conducting the service drew our attention to how steadily the candle flame was burning. Then a robin caught my friend's attention as it perched at a window stretching its neck to peer in at us - a robin, she explained, holds a special significance for her of another family member's presence. The steady candle flame, the robin, the unexpected sun streaming through the window ... what wonderful testimony or reassurance they gave my friend of a loving God embracing her beloved grandson.

Dancing in the Streets

Just got in from an evening of live entertainment at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking, and when I say 'live', there was so much energy it was electric! This fantastic show features many of the old Motown classics. If you ever enjoyed music from The Four Tops, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes or Stevie Wonder, I can recommend it. Certainly had the audience on our feet dancing in the aisles if not the streets, and brought some 'sunshine on a cloudy day' to my life, after another depressing stint over the allotment clearing up from the arson attack on the sheds.

Glorious Sunshine!

At the Quaker meeting I went to this morning one of the Friends spoke of the difficulty we have when something like the terrible earthquake in Haiti happens, in reconciling such cruel events in Nature with a belief in a kind and loving God. She brought a reading from a Quaker scientist which turned to this difficult topic and spoke of how two irreconcilable truths can become the stepping stone to new knowledge. As I contemplated the words, my thoughts turned to how, if we look in a mirror and see a flaw reflected there, we don't blame the mirror or the mirror's maker, rather we use what we see in the reflection to make a decision or take appropriate action. As I thought on the implications of this, I found the question surfacing: but if the created world - if nature - is merely reflecting the face of the observer, whose is that face: God's or humanity's? Rather than an answer, another question arose in my thoughts: what makes you think the two are different? Various bible verses and doctrine came to mind, such as Jesus saying "I am in the Father and the Father is in me", and that Christians are "One in Christ". As these thoughts were busy in my mind, another Friend stood and spoke about Love, the concept that God is Love, and brought the bible reading from Paul's letter to the Corinithians including the verse I had in mind when I named this blog: now we see in a glass darkly ...


After lunch I decided to make the most of the beautiful weather (mild and gloriously sunny with a clear blue sky) to go and begin the task of clearing up the allotment. Regular readers will remember I wrote last month that vandals have burnt down both of the sheds on my plot. It's dirty work but somebody's got to do it, right? It proved more tiring and dis-spiriting than I had ever imagined, disposing of the metal skeletons of gifts from my loving offspring, etc. I had toyed with the idea of hiring a skip but finally dismissed that idea in favour of using cardboard boxes and rubble sacks to cart the stuff down the dump. The past few weeks of inactivity have impacted my fitness level and I'd had enough after barely an hour's work. Then there was a 20 minute queue at the dump. By the time I got home I was nearly in tears with tiredness and despondency over the sad waste of it all - very unusual for me.

The one bright spot on the horizon is that another allotment-holder approached me. It seems she has also recently separated from her husband, and is thinking that the full plot will be more than she can reasonably manage single-handedly along with working full-time. She knew I was thinking of giving up the allotment and she suggested I'd miss it if I gave up totally - how about I take on a spare corner of her plot? At the moment it sounds like an offer too good to refuse (but I'll sleep on it a while to see if it still sounds good when I'm not feeling so down).

The Thaw Continues

Rain overnight has begun to make a difference, chasing away the white stuff to reveal the greenery underneath. For the first time since the heavy snowfall, I made it down the gym today. Boy, did that feel good, not least because the car started first go, despite having sat out in the cold unused for over a week. From the gym I went on to do some grocery shopping at the supermarket. Not such a good plan as by then the place was heaving at the seams. Might have been better to do the supermarket early, before the gym. Oh well ... live and learn as the saying goes.

The rain continued much of the morning, combining with the melt to flood the roads in places. With the snow gone, the pothole damage to the roads becomes only too apparent, making the drive home something of an obstacle course trying to avoid the worst of the potholes and the floods. It was also noticeable how many trees have shed large branches under the weight of all that snow. The thaw might be well under way but the country will take a little longer to recover from the consequences of the weather ... and the wheelie bins still haven't been emptied.

I had hoped to get over the allotment and start clearing up the debris from the fire but it was far too wet today.

The Thaw Begins

There's still snow lying around, plus a lot of slush and ice. The local roads haven't received any attention from gritters or snowploughs, and have deep ruts of slush. If anything today the local pavements seem more slippy than ever with the thaw in progress and ankle-deep puddles to catch the unwary. I had planned on celebrating the thaw with a walk into town but discovering how treacherous the pavements were, I settled on catching the bus down. Went to the library and took out a couple of DVDs and had a general wander round - it felt good to be out and about.

Living in hope, I'd put the wheelie bins out but they remain unemptied.