I do enjoy waking up at sunrise, in this good weather. This week I've been going to bed an hour or so earlier than usual so I'm still getting a good night's sleep. After a week's in quarantine I've had none of the coronavirus symptoms so far, nor symptoms of the wound infection returning.
I had a phone call from Chris Reaney this morning. He was interested to find out about my return from Ibiza and my time there. He spoke about his experience of lock-down ministry in a valley community where only two members of his elderly congregation are internet users. He's had to keep in touch with his flock by 'phone and letter rather than Zoom and WhatsApp. A timely reminder that the digital divide is excluding some church members. Is this being taken into account by the powers that be in their enthusiasm to benefit the majority by use of electronic media?
More work on transcribing our Greek travel journal today. I have difficulty reading my fractured cramped handwriting on times. I think it's become more legible in later years. In contrast, Clare's handwriting was well rounded, balanced and clear to read in those days, and has changed little since then. I'm up to day twelve now, and we've just celebrated our first wedding anniversary, going to church on the island of Paros to join n the celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration, our feast.
In the post, a birthday card from my sister June. It couldn't be sent to Ibiza during lockdown as I had no access to the chaplaincy house mailbox in the village of St Josep throughout my stay. Now it doubles up as a welcome home card. A nice touch.
After lunch I completed editing my Sunday sermon and then recorded it, and also gathered a few music tracks to use when I put the service together. When I installed Audacity on Windows 10 I was unable to use it to record as I have no plug and play USB microphone to wake up the software that records input. This morning I remembered that it was possible to dig down a few layers into the PC operating system and tweak the settings to record from a digital stream apart from a microphone. Now Audacity is working as intended, and that makes my life much easier.
Owain sent me a link to an Arena documentary called 'I am not a Negro' which makes use of writer James Baldwin's prophetic testimony on racism and the American way of life. Film footage of him being interviewed or lecturing was interspersed with film and photos from the 1950s to the present day of civil unrest, civil rights marches, and from a succession of movies portraying black people in a wide range of different ways. Baldwin spoke about his relationships with three murdered black activists - Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jnr, and their relationships with each other as their shared struggle evolved.
It was powerful and disturbing to watch in the light of recent police murders of innocent African Americans, which have provoked storms of protest around the world and not just in America.
More work on transcribing our Greek travel journal today. I have difficulty reading my fractured cramped handwriting on times. I think it's become more legible in later years. In contrast, Clare's handwriting was well rounded, balanced and clear to read in those days, and has changed little since then. I'm up to day twelve now, and we've just celebrated our first wedding anniversary, going to church on the island of Paros to join n the celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration, our feast.
In the post, a birthday card from my sister June. It couldn't be sent to Ibiza during lockdown as I had no access to the chaplaincy house mailbox in the village of St Josep throughout my stay. Now it doubles up as a welcome home card. A nice touch.
After lunch I completed editing my Sunday sermon and then recorded it, and also gathered a few music tracks to use when I put the service together. When I installed Audacity on Windows 10 I was unable to use it to record as I have no plug and play USB microphone to wake up the software that records input. This morning I remembered that it was possible to dig down a few layers into the PC operating system and tweak the settings to record from a digital stream apart from a microphone. Now Audacity is working as intended, and that makes my life much easier.
Owain sent me a link to an Arena documentary called 'I am not a Negro' which makes use of writer James Baldwin's prophetic testimony on racism and the American way of life. Film footage of him being interviewed or lecturing was interspersed with film and photos from the 1950s to the present day of civil unrest, civil rights marches, and from a succession of movies portraying black people in a wide range of different ways. Baldwin spoke about his relationships with three murdered black activists - Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jnr, and their relationships with each other as their shared struggle evolved.
It was powerful and disturbing to watch in the light of recent police murders of innocent African Americans, which have provoked storms of protest around the world and not just in America.
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