The symptoms may be milder than yesterday's, fading away apart from the woolly head, but the covid test is still positive on this sixth day since I tested positive. Exclusion from all normal activity continues. So frustrating and disappointing.
An hour's walk before lunch helped to clear my head somewhat. Yesterday afternoon, Pontcanna Fields was being quietly kitted out ready for an Urdd rugby tournament, sponsored by the Wales Rugby Union, with twenty football pitches marked and extension poles fitted to convert soccer goalposts for use in rugby matches. Today, dozens of games were in progress, many of them between girls' teams. It was a wonder to behold.
Just think, a thousand boys and girls in groups shouting and cheering, many involved in robust physical interactions, yet with no need for external intervention. I'm not even sure if there was a police van on site, let alone any officers on patrol. An amazing tribute to the quality of youth work for which Urdd Gobaith Cymru - the Welsh League of Youth, is famed for. Credit to the WRU for nurturing sporting enthusiasm and participation. Even though team sports don't interest me much, I'm so proud to be Welsh,
The tide of indignation against the atrocities of Putin and his gang continues, but who can break the power their lies hold over a hundred million citizens with no access to alternatives to Kremlin propaganda? Already there have been fourteen hundred Ukrainian civilian deaths due to the criminal conduct of this war. What happened in Aleppo and Grosny is being repeated. Previously, the reaction was no more than reproach, and the evil just carry on doing evil if the good stand by and do nothing.
Military strategists are of the opinion that Russia cannot win a long war for lack of trained experienced personnel, let alone equipment. They say Putin must not win for any chance of regime change to arrive as an eventual outcome. What actions can effect a necessary change, apart from economic sanctions and pouring more armaments into Ukraine? Talk about banning coal and oil trade with Russia is a measure which, if undertaken, could cause suffering for tens of millions across Europe. Would masses of people outraged by what they are learning be willing enough to suffer deprivation voluntarily to achieve this objective?
The most disturbing photograph I caught sight of today on line, showed Putin naked to the waist standing in the baptismal pool of an Orthodox church. I have seen him crossing himself publicly and presumed it was what his granny taught him when he was young. The photo shows him aligning himself politically socially as well as religiously with traditional Russian culture and its aspirations. He claims to have been secretly brought to baptism as an child by his Christian mother, and maybe the photo was of an Epiphany baptismal renewal ceremony. If his faith is important to him, how can he condone the perpetration of such violence in the name of Christ, let alone Holy Russia?
Just before the five o'clock news we had a power blackout. Clare called Western Power Distributors, and learned that, not for the first time, a squirrel had cooked itself on the transformer of the local electricity sub-station. It was all over in fifteen minutes. Quite a quick response, fortunately.
I spent the evening editing the Good Friday Vigil liturgy I've been constructing, getting it down to one hour, with a break to watch this week's new NCIS episode.
No comments:
Post a Comment