Inevitably I got to bed late. The fireworks didn't persist for long. Another wet night, and it rained for much of the day. I worked on the next Sway edition and sent out the liturgical readings during the morning, and Clare cooked a curry for lunch.
Afterwards I edited the document I've been working on about MAC finance in the present economic crisisand sent it to Iona. I'm not sure it will be of any use as it has no new ideas, but rather spells out as clearly as I can put it the folorn consequences we are facing.
Canton ministry rotas for the next two months arrived by email from Sue. I'm not doing as much and have a number of Sunday free, which would make it possible to go away for longer than a week, if I can decide what to do and where to go.
Photos arrived on Instagram from Kath in Singapore, and from Rachel in a remote valley somewhere in Arizona. An incredible contrast between the brightly lit urban canyons of a high rise South East Asian city of 5.5 million in festive array, and a sparsely inhabited nature reserve in the back of beyond, as seen through the eyes of our two travelling daughters.
I ventured into the rain and walked under my umbrella in the park for about an hour before sunset. Shoes and trouser legs were soaked by the time I returned. Day after day of low cloud and rain is daunting when it comes to the same old routine with no prospect of travel on the horizon for the moment.
The movie of My Fair Lady was on at tea time, and I joined Clare to watch part of it. The technicolour cinemascope movie still looks great on a modernish telly. The dialogue is beautifully clear and stagey, unlike that of many contemporary movies now that mumbling without subtitles is fashionable. The singing was mimed I think, but the choreography throughout was superb. Not sure about the plot.
After supper the crowning glory of any New Year's Day for me, the Concert by Vienna's Philharmonic Orchestra, with traditional favourites but also introductions to their repertoire as a result of discoveries made in archives of 19th century music. I'll never forget how important these Viennese concerts were for lifting the spirits in emerging from covid lock-down.
By the time it finished, rain had stopped, with the promise of a few hours respite in the forecast, with three flood warnings and one for high winds issued at different times today for all low lying areas of South Wales. I walked for three quarters of an hour through empty streets, avoiding the park where the gusts of strong wind are readily felt. Amazingly it's twelve degrees tonight, four degrees higher than the historical average high end of the winter temperature range, with more wind and rain tomorrow all day.
The death toll in Gaza as risen to 2,200, and the Israeli campaign against Hamas is likely to be prolonged over several months more. 150 aid trucks allowed in per day is a fraction of what the urgency of need is to deal with 1.8 million displaced homeless people. All this with the war in Ukraine killing hundreds of thousands combatants on both sides. I can't help feeling disheartened, helpless and distressed by this contradiction of the spirit of Christmas good will with so many innocent people suffering on such a scale. We need to be fighting climate change not each other.
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