Change in musical taste

According to my pedometer app, I walked 8.6km on Thursday, going to the office, around the city and back up the Taff Trail as far as the big Tesco in search of clip on sunglasses. As my diary was empty Friday I thought I'd do another walk. I followed the Taff Trail in the opposite direction down to the Bay Wetland nature reserve and took photos of the resident grebes and coots with their fast growing chicks. I clocked over 10km by the time I reached home, and wasn't too stiff, although I slept even better as a result of the additional exercise. my photos are here

This morning I went into town to  met Rufus for a coffee and a catch up chat in Cafe Zest upstairs in the House of Frazer store. Strange to think that it's been earmarked for closure as a department store because of the group's profit warnings. The increase in commercial market rents is being blamed for this. Will it be redeveloped, as was the David Morgan store, as a mix of retail and private apartments? Or will it perhaps be taken over by another big market name. As a property it's something of a nightmare to envision of future for. It was built in several phases, and enclosed Bethany Baptist chapel, which was converted into a retail space still known as 'The Chapel'. It would be possible to demolish the interior and keep the facade, but as the complex of buildings on the site tells such a fascinating tale of the work of Victorian retail entrepreneur James Howell, there might be conservation orders in place that would hinder this.

The streets were busy with extra people arriving for the third of Ed Sheeran's four in a row stadium concerts tonight. Such is his popularity it was clear from the accents audible on the streets that many visitors had come from all over England, as well as Wales and further afield. I lost interest in popular music decades ago, so I'm unsure if I've heard or could recognise any of his work. Music is deeply important to me, almost all kinds, but truth to tell, I've not been good at decoding pop lyrics post Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, and the classic American popular Jazz and romantic song genre. As I get older, I find I can listen to 20th century and modern 'classical' music with pleasure, whereas I could make no sense of it when I was young and dismissed what I couldn't make sense of. That's an unexpected aspect of ageing I can't say I expected.

I returned home to rendezvous with Clare and take the bus to the Steiner school for the summer fair, at which the Fountain Community Choir was due to sing, but we missed each other. I caught up with her at the school after taking the next bus to Llandaff North, and we joined in the rehearsal and then an outdoor performance of half a dozen songs, most of which I am still unfamiliar with and don't know all the words. It all felt a little precarious to me, but it was fun. I walked home afterwards to relax, and the pedometer told me that I'd done another 8km, which was pleasing, as my legs weren't complaining too much. No telly tonight. There's so much football on right now, which holds little interest for me, and we watched the dark Welsh crimmie 'Hidden' on Wednesday, since BBC Wales TV previews it, ahead of the Saturday prime time slot.

Question of treatment

As it was bitterly cold and there was fog in the air, I drove to this morning's dental appointment rather than walk. There was only one lost filling to replace, otherwise my teeth are in good shape. I paid just over forty pounds for a check-up and a replacement filling. A notice displayed in the reception area say that patients must pay in advance for any planned scheme of repair work arising from a check-up. 

This can be very expensive indeed, more than some patients can lay their hands on there and then, so they need to go away and think about how they can afford it. But, the proposed costed plan itself only lasts six weeks, and they must return and pay up front within that time frame, or be obliged to go through and pay for another checkup for the same or a revised estimate to be applicable.

Modern dentistry is high tech, effective and expensive. Registered NHS patients only get to pay a proportion of treatment costs. Those on benefits get completely free treatment. The economics of modern health care are complex and difficult, and it seems well nigh impossible for health authorities not to run out of money to achieve their aims. We pay for dentistry through taxation, and most of us have to pay also through the charges levied on treatment. 

The same could also happen in future for medical treatment. Recently we've been hearing in the news about JAMs (=people Just About Managing.) Those in this category not on benefits may find themselves unable to afford treatment and having to forego necessary repairs, maybe medical treatment generally. Such progress has been made in health care and medicine over the past century, but at an increasingly great price. Where will it all end?

After the dentists, I went into town and met Fr Rufus for lunch at Cafe Zest, and heard about the way his ministry has been developing in the most positive way, since we last met, the best part of a year ago. It was great to hear someone so enthusiastic and delighted with the response to his work, in a broader context where ministers' moral is low as a result of catastrophic decline in church membership. Monmouth diocese has reduced its clergy numbers from 130 to 46 in recent years, and coping with the demands of radical change is proving hard for many.

Then I returned to Pontcanna to meet with Fr Chris Lee at Cafe Castan on Llandaff FIelds, to discuss the funeral of his sister who died last weekend. It's going to be held at St German's. I've already been asked to conduct it, and as there are several other clergy who also wish to be involved, some advance planning will be needed to enable everyone who wants to can take part.

After an early supper, Clare and I went to Chapter Arts Centre, where mulled wine and mince pies had been laid on for subscribers of Chapter Friends. It was strange to realise when we were there that there that out of hundreds of people there for various evening activities, there was only one person I knew and nobody else I even I recognised from the neighbourhood or the churches. Perhaps that's because I haven't really been around that much over recent years, or simply an indication of the size of the area served and the eclectic constituency of Chapter Friends. It's typical of urban living, I guess, but not really the most congenial experiences to start this so-called season of good-will.

   

Change of rings

After days of rain, we woke up to a cold and dry, if overcast day. After breakfast we headed into town to buy a few Christmas presents. The most important aspect of our expedition however took us to one of Cardiff's long standing jewellers, Jonathan David, on St Mary Street. Last Friday I took my wedding ring there to see if it would be possible to repair it, after my misfortune during my Malaga chaplaincy locum, when it had to be cut off my finger, painfully swollen by a wasp sting. I received a message to say that repair on a fifty year old ring worn thin wouldn't be strong enough to last. So Clare decided to buy me a new one, and at the same time to have hers stretched a size and repolished, as her knuckle is not as small as it was when I first slipped it on her finger.

Instead of the original 22 carat gold, which was fairly standard when we were young, we opted for 9 carat, which has the merit of being less expensive, just four times what we'd have paid for ours in the first place, instead of ten times. Once the transactions were completed, we went to the Zest Cafe in the House of Frazer for lunch, while both rings were re-sized to fit our fingers satisfactorily. My broken ring could be sold for scrap now, and I'd probably get the amount it originally cost, given current gold prices, but, I can't bear to part with it. It's such an important witness to the story of my entire adult life, though what I'll actually do with it now, I don't yet know. We both now wear shiny rings, one old and one new. A source of great delight. We must get mine blessed, soon.

After the jewellers, we went our separate ways on different errands, I called at Stavros Constantinou's, my favourite joke telling barber, for a haircut and a chat before returning home, always an enjoyable experience.

With several gifts, plus packs of cards bought at St John's charity card shop, still going strong, after at least fifteen years, it's now time to write an accompanying annual round robin Christmas letter. Already it's that time of year; 2016 seems to have fled by, with a record five spells abroad in different places this year. That must be a personal best.
   

Autumnal city

After a constructive start to the day, with tomorrow's sermon completed and printed by mid-morning. Then we walked briskly into the city centre alongside the Taff, through Bute Park. It was bright and chilly and a feast for the eyes wherever you looked. I spotted a Cormorant flying up and down the river hunting for a meal. Near the SWALEC stadium, a Jay walked through the grass grass verge. It seemed quite unconcerned by our proximity. The footpath was momentarily quiet, so there was nothing to startle it. We stopped and observed it quietly for a little while. For once, I wasn't carrying a camera, and regretted it, though I think Clare was relieved at not have to stop and wait for me to catch her up. 

The majority of the leaves have turned yellow rather than red or brown this autumn. The rain and wind of recent days, has laid a gorgeous carpet of colours over the grass, while leaves still clinging to trees light up the blue sky with flecks of gold. I will need to do this walk again with a camera on Monday to try and capture the scene, before the leaf gathering machines move in. Weather permitting. The centre was busy, more crowded that usual, pending the start of the Wales v Japan Rugby international match. We wandered the shops for an hour or so, then went to the House of Frazer's Cafe Zest for a drink and a sandwich before walking home again.

I noticed there was a new Australian crime drama series to watch on BBC Four called 'Deep Waters', which started last week with a double episode, so I watched those on iPlayer, while awaiting episodes three and four to be shown.  Set on and around Bondi beach, it was about the investigation of a series of hate crimes against gay men, reaching back from present murders to cold cases of thirty years ago. It was fairly straightforward with few twists and turns no background police 'n politics intrigue. A decent effort, but for me, it lacked sparkle, the dialogue seemed flat and uninspired. But it could simply be that Australian culture and English speech feels more foreign to me than anything European regardless of the language differences.
      

Learning to be a digital consumer

Owain had gone out to do a gig on Friday evening, as he arrived home before I did last night, but we had the pleasure of his company over a late brunch this morning before he returned to Bristol. In the last ten days he's had three job interviews, and is still waiting to hear from the first one, which he'd most like to win. It's hard to get enthusiastic about further applications when you're uncertain in this way. I so feel for him.

We walked across into Bute Park and had a light lunch in the restaurant of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The weather was bright and sunny, but a bitter cold wind made walking a ordeal. We continued into town, toured a few shops, had tea in House of Frazer's Cafe Zest and caught the bus home. A teenage couple standing on the bus chatting animatedly in sign language caught my eye, as their faces shone and their hands moved about eloquently. A moment of enchantment in an otherwise dreary journey in a bus full of dreary countenances.

With jobs done and nothing better to do while waiting for this week's delightful episode of 'Young Montalbano', I watched a YouTube video of a talk Clare wanted me to hear, then tried out some of the live and catchup TV apps for tablet available, to supplement YouView on our TV digital box, which can't be watched on two channels at the same time if there's a schedule clash. A second telly would a waste of space, when tablet media consumption can be continued, doing other things if needs be. It's not so often 'must watch' programmes are on at the same time, and more often that telly gets bypassed for jobs in need of completion. The secret is not to watch too much, or too late, and not to watch for the sake of watching, which I confess I've done a lot of when I've been on my own in Spain. I promise myself I'll make better use of my time, next time around.