Improvised Asencion Day fiesta

Awake early, posting today's YouTube Morning Prayer link to WhatsApp  at seven, although I didn't get up until gone eight. After breakfast I paid the latest water rates bill which arrived a few days ago, on hearing a discussion on the BBC Radio Four Today programme about the alarming extent of sewage polluted rivers and the plan to upgrade sewage network infrastructure. It was interesting to see how much our bill was reduced by my three month sojourn in Spain.

Then, I went to Tesco's to shop for this week's Foodbank donation and took it to St John's to celebrate the first Eucharist of this almost sunny Ascension Day. There were eleven of us, with Fr Huw and Beryl from St Peter's Fairwater, plus Clive, Stephen and Hilary from St Catherine's joining the five regulars, as services in their churches can't be offered today. Good to see a few people willing to cross former Parish boundaries to celebrate one of the church's great festivals together.

Before having lunch I prepared the service for tomorrow's funeral. While I was doing this, a call came in from the cardiology team offering me an appointment tomorrow afternoon for a cardiology scan, as there had been a cancellation. Amazing luck! The report will be sent to pre-op for assessment, and on that basis I will be inserted into the operation queue. When that will happen is anyone's guess. I just hope the call doesn't come while we're booked to be away. Maybe I'll be able to feed the surgeon's secretary my unavailability dates.

I had a snooze in the chair after lunch, then went out and did the week's grocery shopping in the Coop, and had an early supper. I needed to be on my way to St Luke's by six thirty to celebrate the evening's Eucharist. I was there just before seven and thankfully I had my church keys with me, and could open up and start getting things ready for the service. I had prepared my sermon, but nothing else. It was to be a sung Eucharist, but I had no idea if the choir or organist had been recruited for the occasion.

Father Chris turned up so I asked him to read the Gospel, then a succession of lay people from Caerau, St Catherine's, Glanely as well as St Luke's. Father Jesse arrived. I asked him to read the Gospel, and then Archbishop Rowan. I asked him to give the chalice. When the service started we were altogether twenty two people. I had envisaged a third of that number turning up. It was rather special to have people from four of seven churches in the Ministry Area worshipping together at the same time. 

I decided when preparing to celebrate not to use nave or chancel altars. A handful of people in a space designed for two hundred is a quite a demoralising experience, so I arranged the service to happen in the Lady Chapel, which accommodates about fifteen. The fact that we were full to overflowing was a real blessing. We sang hymns, and some parts of the service unaccompanied, and it was a lovely experience, outside everyone's expectations. With such diminished numbers, we need different ways of celebrating together to uplift us. Somehow at the last minute it came together, with seven different people taking an active role. I felt exhilarated to be part of it.

Four of us went to the Victoria Park pub nearby afterwards to celebrate the Ascension socially, and chat for an hour before parting company. I walked home feeling grateful to have had the opportunity to take the lead on such a special feast day in the church's year. And so to bed.

Ground-breaking street theatre recalled

Up at eight, posting the Morning Prayer link to WhatsApp. Clare had already cooked porridge and eaten breakfast. Her back is improving daily now thankfully. I went to the Eucharist at St John's, eight of us were present to celebrate Christ's Ascension. I couldn't stop for coffee and a chat as I had to drive Clare to Splott for her booster vaccination. The roads were busy but we arrived there in good time, and by just after midday we were on our way home again. 

In the news, while I was cooking lunch, the Chancellor announced financial support measures to enable all households to cover the huge rise in energy costs. These benefit poorest households and elderly people most, though every household will get a grant of four hundred pounds towards their increased expenses. It will mitigate the effect of high inflation on household budgets but not eliminate it. Economically it makes sense. A dramatic decrease in everyone's disposable income will impact on consumer spending overall, and risk pushing the country into recession.

After lunch I recorded and edited the audio for next Thursday's Morning Prayer and reflection, then went out for a walk along the Taff. It was windy and there was an unusually fine drizzle at the same time, a bit like having one giant version of one of those mist sprays to moisten the eyes, not enough to dampen my raincoat. I make an effort to walk at a sustained brisk pace, and am disappointed when overtaken by others both young and ten years younger than I. This is what getting old means sad to say.

I watched an episode of 'Art that made us' about the Victorian era on iPlayer, one which I missed, and later watched the final episode in the series on contemporary arts. Both were excellent. The second one showed artists probing the realities of everyday life, posing questions about identity, social exclusion and justice. My only disappointment in the programme was the absence of any comment about the work of Banksy, a major street artist whose witty political satire and social comment touches on the lives and concerns of many who feel marginalised and ill treated by life in today's world.

Actor Michael Sheen recalled the innovative Port Talbot Passion play of 2012, 'The Gospel of Us' in which he played Jesus. It was an amazing piece of street theatre involving ten thousand people, most of them locals. i remember watching a two hour documentary edition of the three day event, but had forgotten that viewing took place in St Mike's a year later in a College event organised by a student in my tutor group. According to Sheen, it was a ground breaking piece of street theatre involving people as both audience and participants at the same time. Many of those present filmed the event on their mobile phones and posted footage on social media, extending the participation virtually perhaps for the first time on such a wide scale. How the world has changed since then!

State of Alarm - day Sixty Four

A beautiful hot summery day today, bright sunshine and blue skies, with the temperature rising to 26c, just the way I like it. Perfect for celebrating Ascension Day. For the first time in a couple of months I saw the condensation trail of a high flying jet crossing the sky, north west to south west. Just the one long distance flight. In the past couple weeks I've seen a small pale green prop driven monoplane flying around and wondered what it was doing. I've recently learned that it's on fire watch. 

There are observation towers out in forest high places, staffed at critical dry times in the year, but also this aircraft which patrols over the entire island, sometimes responding to complaints about local fires. Farmers will tidy up their land and burn what they don't need and can't store in spring until the end of April, early May, but then the land dries out and the fire risk rises, so burning is banned, and the man in the 'plane keeps an eye on all the vulnerable places.

Palm Sunday weekend, I did a little video in which I blessed this year's Palm Crosses and proposed that they could be received once the lock-down was over. We had no idea then when it would happen but it this year's cross, although it looks like every other, would hold special memories of a time in our journey of faith unlike any other. With easing of restrictions allowing small domestic gatherings it was possible to invite church members to come and collect theirs from the Chaplaincy House and stop for a drink and a chat, while observing social distancing - possible because of the generous and sunny front terrace. During the morning half a dozen people came. I enjoyed meeting new people and the conversations we had. Hopefully this will continue next week and thereafter.

When I checked my phone before lunch afterwards, there was another text message from British Airways cancelling the flight booked for 8th June, That's the fourth. Kath once more undertook to source another flight for me. It's impossible to have any confidence in BAe commitment to serve their European clientele, so she has booked me on a Jet2 flight to Birmingham on 18th June. This flight has been bookable for the past month, once Jet2 announced that they would resume services mid month, in line with the resumption of Schengen open borders policy.

British Airways has been proposing flights and then cancelling them without recourse to the facts. Ibiza airport re-opened to commercial flights last Monday, a date announced only last week, so it's clear that BAe has been speculating and playing with its customers once it has taken their money. It's really shameful behaviour for a flagship British institution. To hell with them. I won't trust them to get me home after this. Ever. I am going to see if I can get his matter raised in Parliament, as the lack of honesty is going to undermine any attempts to keep out airline industry afloat.

Later in the afternoon, I walked down to Cala des Torrents, and found a road I hadn't been on before which linked up with roads I had been on before, so another small piece of my map of the areas falls into place. I made a few pots of strawberry jam after supper, having been given a large punnet of strawberries in the morning by one kind visitor, too many to eat while in their best condition but perfect with a couple of lemons from the tree outside for turning into a fragrant flavoursome jam. Now that's something I didn't expect to be doing when I woke up on Ascension morning! Amazing that this morning I should also be given a fresh baked batch of scones by another visitor. My cup runneth over!

   

Ascension and Election day

There were fifteen of us for the Ascension day Eucharist at St John's this morning. I enjoyed being able to walk down to church in the sunshine. The really cold weather seems to be passing, and it seems more like spring at last. The colours generated by bursting young leaves are just amazing to see. After lunch I spent a few hours in the office, putting an accounts sheet in order, and adding to the inventory database I created last week. There's a long way to go however, to get everything in order before it's all distributed to users. Then there were minutes and agenda to prepare and issue for the next BCRP Board meeting. I won't be able to attend as it takes place the evening before we leave on our Danube cruise, but I am confident the meeting will be in good hands with Julie as scribe.

Voting for the Welsh Assembly Government takes place today, amongst other things, so the news seems to be a relentless grind of political chatter of no consequence. We voted postally a couple of weeks ago, so there was no outing to a polling station after tea for us, just a quiet evening, editing photos of the Central Square redevelopment and uploading them. You'll find the collection here.  I've been taking photos from just three or four vantage points around the site, so many of them appear much the same, apart from weather changes and equipment movements. Over six months, however, looking carefully at the centre of the pictures you see the ground level dropping piecemeal.

The huge 7 metre basement area excavation is nearly finished now, and the cleared ground is becoming a forest of reinforced concrete rods, prior to the introduction of the steel beams for the framework of the buildings. It's amazing the speed at which half a million tons for earth and stones has been dug out and removed from this area since January, regardless of the weather too. Very impressive organisation in the midst of a busy area of town.

Going up river

I walked into town early to celebrate the midweek Eucharist for Ascension Day in the church shop a day early. There were a dozen of us present, including a couple of visitors from Aberystwyth who come here regularly every year. After coffee and a chat I did some routine food shopping on the way back. There was an email waiting for me on the Chaplain's address requesting a memorial service next month for a British expat living in a village outside Motril, about three quarters of an hour's drive from here. Plenty of time to liaise with the family and prepare for the occasion.

Late afternoon, when it was starting to cool down after 40 degree heat at midday, I went for a walk up the rio Chillar valley towards the sierras to see what birds I could see and photograph. It's my third  walk into the local parque natural in the past two years, and it won't be my last. 

Directly below our urbanizacion, from the valley floor, there were swallows, swifts and house martins hunting for insects. The neighbourhood kestrel was out and about, and I was amazed to see it being harrassed by a couple of swallows as it patrolled a few hundred feet over the valley floor. Eventually, it took advantage of evening thermals to rise a few hundred feet higher, where it could fly undisturbed. I got a fleeting glimpse of a family of siskins whizzing across the river into bamboo thickets. They always move too quickly to snap, when you see them. 

There's one stretch of river which appears to be the territory of a group of yellow wagtails. I got a few shots of one on a high tension electricity cable on the way up,

 I caught a few more of birds in the water in the same stretch on the way back down the river.

 An enjoyable outing, but somewhat tiring. I reckon I walked over eight miles altogether today.