Messy park

Cloudy today, but still quite warm. Clare cooked pancakes for breakfast, then a morning of writing before I cooked pasta for lunch. Then I slept in the chair for over an hour, so deeply I wasn't aware of the passage of time. Then I went for a long walk around Llandaff and Pontcanna Fields. All that  was left of the week's Urdd rugby tournament was pale patches of grass where tents had been pitched, and covers to protect the ground from vehicles and pedestrian over-use - vital if it had rained, but not after a dry month. 

A hired team of event rubbish collectors had done a good job clearing up, but alongside the peripheral footpaths, the usual scattering of cans and drinks bottles to be collected by volunteer litter pickers. I think I binned about a dozen pieces, a plastic bag blown into undergrowth and a new looking plastic storage food box and lid, discarded within metres of a bin. There were several different large Asian family groups and one Spanish enjoying a picnic. Barbecues are forbidden but they happen anyway, Council bye-laws are not enforced. Even when the groups make an effort to clear up after themselves, the volume of disposable plates and containers overwhelms the nearest rubbish bins. The same happens too with takeaway food boxes in the vicinity of Cathedral Road. By mid morning on Mondays the Council's rubbish team are out collecting, but by Sunday evening in fine weather the parks often look a mess. Council budget cuts rule out Sunday overtime. If only park users would all take their rubbish home with them and not make extra work for others.

After supper I watched the final couple of episodes of 'De Dag'. It was consistently surprising throughout its twelve episodes, by portraying the events unfolding from the perspective of the law enforcement team and hostage negotiators on the one side, and then from the perpetrators and their victims on the other. What was really interesting was the negotiators' methodical, you could say clinical care in establishing the facts behind each statement made by the perpetrators. There's a villainess in the story who poses as victim to achieve her evil aims. She gets away with it by deceiving and inciting others to kill on her behalf and nearly gets away with it. The bank robbery loot ends up in the hands of the wife of one of her victims whose husband has been murdered. It's dark stuff. It portrays police teamwork at its best, in contrast to the criminals' clever deceptive plans and often quick thinking tactics which founder on their own egotism and unforeseen chance occurrences destabilising their aim. A good compelling watch all round.

Palm Sunday tomorrow. Holy Week on the receiving end, with no services to take or preaching to prepare for. An unfamiliar experience. I wonder how it's going to affect me. Preaching the faith that has sustained me all my adult life has enabled my understanding and love for God to grow. What happens if I don't? I am about to find out.