Unexpected request

Disappointingly, after a sunny weekend, by the time I was ready to go out for a mid morning walk, it had started to rain, so I stayed in and wrote letters instead. It was teatime before I ventured our to the post office, and popped into the Co-op for the first time since my return for apple juice and rye bread. It wasn't busy, and few were wearing masks. 

I hear that Boris Johnson proposes to make the wearing face masks compulsory in shops and other enclosed spaces, with fines for non-compliance. After so many mixed messages and letting people used common sense to make up their own minds, it's going to be hard to change public habits. Locking the stable door after the horse has gone.

After taking the shopping home I continued to the park where fine drizzle turned to rain. I was very wet by the time I got back, jacket and trousers were soaked.

Pidgeon's have asked me if I'd do a funeral at Thornhill next week. I officiated at the funeral of the deceased's wife back in January and the family requested that I do the same for him. The man died from organ failure months after recovering from a bout of symptomless covid-19. Coincidentally, I read a report this morning that stated this is not uncommon, and so far inexplicable. The impact of the pandemic may be more devastating and far reaching than has been realised so far.

Funny, only a few days ago I was reflecting on the end of my public ministry, and then this happens  I could see no reason to refuse. Crematorium chapel services are very carefully regulated.

In the past I have always been taken to and from the crem or the cemetery by car. This time I will use my own car, eliminating a close proximity ride in a funeral company car. One less risk for me, one less sanitising job for the driver. No bereavement visit is possible, but arrangements by phone and email are now universally acceptable. I'll miss the face to face contact, and won't be able to shake hands with mourners after the service. I'm glad that the family and I have already met.

We watched an interesting BBC Four documentary about Beethoven and his music this evening. It spoke of his life as a triumph over adversity. A sad unsustainable love life, bouts of illness and the terrible onset of deafness, yet the worst of times saw the composition of some of his greatest music.