Dark times

Despite bad news, there were two dozen adults at the St Catherine's Eucharist this morning, no children, however. This afternoon's Nine Lessons and Carols has been cancelled, as that was to have involved a socially distanced choral contribution. Better safe than sorry. Hard enough to stop people singing along to popular carols in church. It can only be done in the street or the park. I sang 'Silent Night' aloud as I walked to the weir, but it provoked not a single response from passers by.

After doing a couple of recordings this afternoon I went for a walk as the sun was setting, hoping to glimpse Saturn and Jupiter converging after sunset. I think I was looking in the wrong direction to start with. Light pollution plus a thin high level wispy layer of cloud impeded the sight of all but a few very bright stars (and maybe Mars), and just as I was heading home, I caught sight of a very bright object about to disappear below the remains of the pink horizon, but to was to the west, not the south west as it had been reported in some news-feeds. I think its trajectory takes it from South West to due West as it moves down in the sky. The brightest night of the conjunction will be tomorrow. We're expecting clouds and rain all day. It really makes me long for the pure un-polluted heavens of Ibiza under lock-down.

After supper, I recorded the remaining three videos, and sent the New Year's Eve one to Mother Frances as requested. None of them are as good as I'd have liked them to be, but they'll serve the purpose, I think.

Owain and I had a long chat about his Christmas visit. As a government communications professional in a key agency, he's able to navigate all the complex info on rules and regulations, and find what relates to those in a domestic bubble. It's OK for him to come to us in Cardiff, and permissible for him to stay, as he and us have been living in isolation and not mixing with anyone at home. I shall drive over to collect him on Christmas Eve, so that he's not exposed to any kind of risk involving public transport. So glad that we are able to do this, for his sake and for ours. Such a long and lonely year. And the longest night is tonight.