Socially distanced but superb singing

After breakfast, I went on my own to St Catherine's while Owain and Clare went for a walk in the park to enjoy the bright warm sunny morning instead. There were thirty of us at the Eucharist. On my way home I met Emma on her way to the Co-op and we chatted for a short while before she went hunting the shelves for something for lunch with an unexpected guest. She's really enjoying her interim ministry secondment to Fairwater, finding herself in an unusual situation there. 

With covid restrictions the church can only take 27 worshippers at a time, but the regular congregation is much more than that, so worshippers can only book to go to church fortnightly, and this involves a lot of extra organisation for the churchwardens. There's a monthly children's Eucharist on a Saturday, but numbers call for two separate celebrations, one every two weeks. Will parishioners easily get back into a weekly worship habit when this crisis is over I wonder?

After lunch in the garden, I walked up to Llandaff Weir. On the way there I went through the Cathedral Churchyard and heard singing within. The north east side entrance door was wide open so I put a mask on and popped my head in. The choir had just reached the Evensong Lord's Prayer and Responses. They were singing a familiar setting with gusto and it really moved me. After the Anthem, I walked around to the West door to watch the end of the service, then went in a chatted with Fr Mark, whom I haven't seen since last summer. Regular Cathedral Evensong, Sunday evenings and a weekday or two, are happening once more. It's such a blessing, and triumphant return to the Old Normal, albeit with a reduced socially distanced choir. It seems the Dean is still off work, so he and Canon Jan, our Area Dean, are carrying all the Cathedral services between them,  a heavy responsibility one way and another. 

This evening, the first round of the biennial 'Cardiff Singer of the World' on telly, a superb hour and a half of singing by the first four semi-finalists. It's taking place in St David's Hall again with a smaller orchestra and without an audience, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the participants. Tonight's semi-final winner was mezzo soprano, Natalia Kutateladze from Georgia. The other singers were from Mongolia, Venezuela and China, all remarkable voices. 

And then, the second episode of disturbingly realistic prison drama 'Time'. Difficult watching. I wonder if this honest portrayal of life behind bars will spark new debate into British prison conditions.