Another warm day, but cloudy. Lots of time today for prayer and reflection while walking my first hour. This morning I noticed that four of the six tiny snails observed gathering over the past few days have disappeared, either moved into hiding, or perhaps taken as food by a night predator. As it's a bit more humid there are several more larger snails out and about. I found one on the path with an edge of its shell broken off. It was surrounded and covered with tiny back ants, and was making an attempt to get away from their efforts to exploit its vulnerability.
I'm fortunate enough to be in contact, one way or another, with people here and back home in Cardiff every day. I woke up this morning to another lovely round robin email from members of the St Catherine's Wednesday morning Communion group - all keen to stay in touch during lockdown and share news. I hear occasionally from Canton parish clergy too.
The times of solitude and silence in between exchanges by phone or messaging are rewarding, allowing memories and ideas to surface and provide fresh food for thought. I wish there was enough time to write about many more things from past experience I now have time to revisit. AS time goes on, I listen to less live radio daily, and listen to music instead, or just enjoy a world of silence, punctuated by occasional birdsong and a passing car.
The times of solitude and silence in between exchanges by phone or messaging are rewarding, allowing memories and ideas to surface and provide fresh food for thought. I wish there was enough time to write about many more things from past experience I now have time to revisit. AS time goes on, I listen to less live radio daily, and listen to music instead, or just enjoy a world of silence, punctuated by occasional birdsong and a passing car.
Yesterday, Clare WhatsApp'd me a little video of a guy with a fine operatic tenor voice standing at his front gate in a street of similar appearance to ours, either in Canton or Cathays across the Taff, performing on the anthemic non-conformist devotional classic 'Arglwydd dyma fi' to the street, with a soprano lower down joining in. English translation 'Lord here I am ....etc' Perhaps you have to be a Welsh speaker or learner to appreciate this fully, but the musical energy would be recognised in any part of the world under lock-down.
Then, while I was in the garden yesterday evening, I heard a woman's operatic voice, singing loudly a wordless melody. At first I thought she might have been singing a saeta, but not so. The sound came from a house in the estate to the north of where I am, out of my sight, 4-500 metres away, reaching me as she sang from the roof of the house. The sound varied presumably when she changed direction standing there. Intriguing what occurs under lock-down. Last night there was a big global media celebrity concert of people performing from home under lock-down, but grass-roots musicians and artists performing spontaneously for people in their barrios has been happening ever since the restrictions were imposed.
I walked in silence and enjoyed the sounds of nature this morning, just to have some thinking time, then this afternoon I listened to 'Vengue', the debut album of Ojos de Brujo eighteen years ago. It was characteristic in many ways of their initial development of a Spanish electro pop fusion with some interesting songs, but the 'sound' was lighter, and didn't convey the same conspiratorial 'in yer face' sound of all their other albums. It seems that they parted from the record production company with which they made 'Vengue', probably because they could afford to go independent on the back of their success. Doing things on the bands own terms certainly reaped superb musical rewards for the rest of the time the band worked together.
This evening we had a lovely forty minute family Zoom meeting, children and granddaughters too.
Kath and Owain both knew the history of 'Vengue', probably looking it up after I said I was keen to have it to listen to out here. They all looked as healthy and in as good spirits as it's possible to be under the circumstances. A nice way to finish the day.
I walked in silence and enjoyed the sounds of nature this morning, just to have some thinking time, then this afternoon I listened to 'Vengue', the debut album of Ojos de Brujo eighteen years ago. It was characteristic in many ways of their initial development of a Spanish electro pop fusion with some interesting songs, but the 'sound' was lighter, and didn't convey the same conspiratorial 'in yer face' sound of all their other albums. It seems that they parted from the record production company with which they made 'Vengue', probably because they could afford to go independent on the back of their success. Doing things on the bands own terms certainly reaped superb musical rewards for the rest of the time the band worked together.
This evening we had a lovely forty minute family Zoom meeting, children and granddaughters too.
Kath and Owain both knew the history of 'Vengue', probably looking it up after I said I was keen to have it to listen to out here. They all looked as healthy and in as good spirits as it's possible to be under the circumstances. A nice way to finish the day.
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