Another day of sunshine and interesting clouds. Good conditions for driving to Bristol to see Owain, but we couldn't get away until noon as Clare's back medication injection packs were going to arrive by courier at some time in the morning, and needs immediate refrigeration. While we waited, I did my share of the weekly housework, then emailed next Sunday's readings to their destined recipients, and made a few changes to next weekend's Sway.
I listen to every news bulletin, and look at my news feed often during the day for changes in the situation in Palestine. It's the feast of Saint James of Jerusalem today, so I decided to look for a photo of the Orthodox Cathedral Church of Saint James in Jerusalem, just outside the precinct of the Church of the Resurrection in the Holy City, from my collection of over a hundred photos taken there in 1998 and 2000. I don't have them on-line any more but archived and searched through four different hard drives in order to find the folder containing the photos I digitized them back in November 2008, not long after I bought the film digitizer, I think.
Reviewing them made me realise how poor quality many of them are compared to what's possible to produce nowadays. I took an Olympus Trip 35mm film camera with me on both visits to the Holy Land, and digitized the negatives eight years later. It's a good little camera for point and shoot pictures, but my ten year old Olympus MFT camera produces far superior photos. The range of subjects photographed is also disappointing. A roll of 36 frames obliges you to choose carefully what picture you want, but when you're free to take scores of pictures there's no need to be choosy. Failed photos with a film camera are costly, unlike a digital camera. I prefer to take stills rather than video, as there's a momentary element of choice and attentiveness involved. Video shooting involves a lot more attention to do well, or else spend a lot of time editing out the poor parts.
We arrived at Owain's just after one, and then went out to lunch in a small eaterie not far from Stapleton Road railway station. His apartment is looking good now with the walls decorated and new carpets and flooring looking good. Shelves containing his huge vinyl record collection are installed and full, also his record decks and home computer workstation. The bedroom and kitchen are neatly organised, but he's lacking a sofa bed and dining table. He's making a home he can truly call his own for the first time, and that's a blessing for us as well as him.
We started for home as the rush hour started. The M32 and M4 were quite busy as we left Bristol, but not running slowly. It wasn't until we'd passed over the Severn crossing that traffic began to slow right down in all three lanes. I thought there must have been an accident or road works somewhere in this stretch of motorway, but there weren't. Once we were past the Magor junction the pace quickened to 50mph and stayed like that right through Newport, without further slowing down. That was unusual, as the Newport section often suffers from congestion. It took us an hour and a half to get home, twice as long as the outbound journey.
When I reflected on it, we've experienced that particular stretch of traffic congestion on other occasions recently. It's something to do with the significant increase in cars leaving the M4 at the Magor junction,. It wasn't designed to accommodate such a high volume of traffic fifty years ago. What's changed is the growth of new housing estates along the coastal strip from Chepstow to Newport. There's a big increase in commuter traffic to and from Bristol as house prices plus semi-rural lifestyle in Gwent make it worth the effort, now that hybrid working between home and office has become acceptable.
Clare made a quick snack for her supper when we got back and then went in search of a Plygain group sing-song in the Butchers Arms on Llandaff Road. Half an hour later she returned, disappointed, as the info she'd found on the internet related to an event that no longer happens there. I went out for a walk. First to Tesco's to buy her some flowers and a bottle of Chilean Pinot Noir for me, then my usual circuit of Llandaff Fields in the dark, with half a moon showing through the clouds. Earlier when we left for Bristol, I noticed a lovely colour change in the trees in the park, viewed across the road junction. A few days ago they were still green, speckled with small patches of yellow and brown leaves. After days of rain and colder wind, green trees look like they've been brushed with a light topping of golden colour. I look forward to getting some pictures of this scenic effect tomorrow, unless it changes again overnight!
News tonight of another day of 20 aid lorries allowed through the Rafah crossing after clearance of content for weapons. Also two elderly female hostages released by Hamas, whose spokesmen says they have been retrieved from captivity by other military factions which joined in the murderous assault on Israel, and did their own thing. If this is so, it's another own goal for Hamas as it reveals opposition to Israel isn't united or disciplined, even if it is deadly and cruel.
Nothing worth watching on telly after my late walk. I had more changes to make on Sway. Then it was bed time. Rain returned
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