I woke late having slept well on another cold night, thanks to having worn a long sleeved thermal vest in bed for the first time. It makes enough of a difference to persuade me to do this again. More positive news from Gaza with a further extension of the temporary truce being mooted by Hamas. If both sides take more time to take stock during the lengthening pause maybe it will awaken a realisation of the terrible things both side have done, how it's nowhere near working out a practical long term solution to the historic problem of sharing the land between two peoples with a deep rooted sense of belonging in the Holy Land.
As an experiment, I added chorizo to my regular breakfast diet. I eat enough to see me through until lunch time but often feel light headed an hour and a half before lunch, without feeling hungry. I wanted to see if it would make any difference to eat some meaty protein. I rarely have a full English breakfast, as it's too much hassle to prepare at the start of a day. A chunk of chorizo the length of my thumb worked well, carrying me through comfortably to a lunch of grilled mackerel. Another thing worth repeating. I like our vegetarian/vegan diet but my digestive system evidently works better with a little extra meat or fish.
More info arrived for posting on Sway, and I did this before heading to St Catherine's to celebrate Mass with seven others, standing in again for Fr Dyfrig. After coffee and a chat, I collected this week's veggie bag from Chapter on my way home for lunch. After eating I exchanged messages with my sister whose landline has stopped working. There's something wrong outside her flat, at the distribution box at street level, where work was being carried out by OpenReach recently. Some careless engineer left the cabinet door open, and her line hasn't been right since. She's now in need of a crash course in using WhatsApp on both mobile phone and tablet.
I went out and did my weekly Co-op grocery shopping, then Clare did her shopping at Beanfreaks. Basma emailed to say she was happy with my account of her story, and that enabled me to use this in a witness statement to inform her solicitor, and add to the documents to be presented for the hearing of her case at an immigration tribunal, if this turns out to be useful asset. Then I emailed a copy of this to Fr Stewart, for information when he comes to write his own statement of support, and endorsing mine. The judges need to know that church leaders and members are agreed about her commitment.
In the late evening a message arrived from Basma rejoicing that her daughter has now received her UK travel document which will enable her to travel and visit her grandparents who are, I believe in Jordan. I hope she is able to continue to obtain full UK citizenship in whatever time this takes especially as she has no intention of ever returning to her native Iraq.
We needed to have an early supper before walking to the Royal Welsh College for this year's Opera Gala performance, in which the entire college takes part - some 17 singers performing a wide ranging programme of solos, and ensemble pieces for two three four, even six singers on stage, and a chorus of forty up in the gallery, not only singing but doing so with choreographed arm waving for added effect. They were accompanied by the WNO orchestra on stage, conducted energetically by James Southall, who was a delight to watch, as he participated in some of the scenes by his body language and gestures, adding to the humour of the piece.
In several items performed, there was no pause between one and another, continuity maintained by one of the singers remaining on stage, and switching role when joined by a new group of performers. This was effortlessly smooth in execution, like a well edited mix-tape programme. I've never heard or seen anything like this live on an opera stage before. An utterly brilliant production. After the final applause we drifted out on cloud nine with delight, and walked all the way home in the chilly night air. It was just too cold to stand and wait for the bus. I've walked 14km today, the longest distance covered since I was in Ibiza, just after lockdown started in 2020. I'll sleep well tonight.
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