It was overcast when I woke up this morning and stayed overcast, though it wasn't as cold as yesterday. I benefited from a late start this morning, listening to Sunday Worship of Radio Four over breakfast, then getting a load of washing done and out to dry before it was time to leave for the eleven thirty Eucharist at St Andrew's.
We were forty five this morning and the unaccompanied singing was hearty in an almost full church. In the congregation was Fr David Sutch and his wife who was both Archdeacon and Chaplain in 2013 and retired that autumn. That was what led to my first series of long locum duties here in the Costa del Sol East Chaplaincy.
David was Vicar of Yate in the diocese of Bristol when I was serving in St Paul's, but our paths didn't cross at that time. In fact, this was the first time we'd ever met. When I was an undergraduate in Bristol David's father Christopher was a priest in Bristol diocese, and I came across him when I was attending the University Chaplaincy Church of St Paul's Clifton.
When I returned, I cooked a tuna steak with veggies for lunch, and then went for a walk over the hill, up the road to Mijas and back to the house through the La Loma housing area. From the ridge overlooking the AP7 I could see a dozen big beef cattle grazing a patch of open land, still used for its ancient purpose, not yet swallowed up by the encroachment of housing estates. The preacher at this morning's service on the radio was talking about the place he grew up in, where there was a similar stretch of little used land in between suburb and countryside, where he took quiet refuge as a teenager. It's interesting this image registered with me, even though I can't recall what point he was making at the time.
This evening I had a conference video call with both daughters and both grand daughters. Kenilworth, Tempe and Fuengirola all linked by WhatsApp. Amazingly the line didn't drop, as it often does when I call Clare. How good to see and hear them all at once. This afternoon, Clare and Ann are at the opera.
At the outset of the call, Rachel had been asking about a photo I posted yesterday of a quotation from a poem by Frederico Garcia Lorca I saw on a wall in a back street of Málaga yesterday: 'Las estrellas no tienen un novio'. The stars don't have a boyfriend (or bridegroom depending on context). It's a bit cryptic either way. I googled it and found a poem 'called Estampa del Cielo' - picture (or imprint) of heaven in which this is the first line. I couldn't resist making a translation of it, just for pleasure. It makes a change from Duo Lingo drills. I'm just going to concentrate on the Duo Lingo podcast series from now on, and watch Spanish telly instead. Over supper I listened to the story of a transgender activist's fight for recognition in Costa Rica and found it most insightful.
It took me the best part of an hour to upload and edit thirty photos from the last couple of days. I spoke briefly with Clare who'd just got in from the opera, a new modern production of Mozart's 'Magic Flute'. We didn't talk for long as she and Ann had just started supper. I'll get the full story tomorrow. After posting a few photos of breakdancing I saw in Malaga Puerto yesterday, I was too tired to read or watch telly, so took myself off to bed.
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