Dreaming of sunny days - Greenbelt 2012

Who'd believe we're officially in Spring? I've  the heating on, a freshly-brewed mug of coffee beside me, a bowl of porridge whirling round in the microwave ( Mr GP's shirts are probably standing to attention on the line  by now) and I'm still freezing. Time to dream of sunnier times and the annual opportunity to chill out - often in the original sense of the word (brrr!) at Greenbelt 2012; theme  Paradise Lost & Found. That's my trusty little tent pictured.

For those of you of a Franciscan persuasion, I've noticed that Ian Cron, author of, amongst others,  Chasing Francis - A Pilgrim's Tale, is down to talk this year. It's not clear what his topic will be, but I'd like to go along and listen anyway. Cron's novel about Chase, the megachurch pastor who loses his faith then rediscovers it after a pilgrimage to Italy is a good and accessible  introduction to the saint, supplementing the 'meatier' writings about Francis rather well IMO. 

Procrastination rules - Them pesky widgets

Procrastination of course, being a practice that your typical Franciscan tertiary never indulges in; especially of the more 'techy' variety. I gave up IM'ing years ago; multitasking gets me into more of a tangle than a game of cat's cradle. Tweeting I leave to the birds, (those few who've the guts to venture into GP dog's domain), and, as for the dreaded Facebook timeline - "Did she fall or was she pushed?" I vowed to hold out until the last possible moment, but it's just amazing what a girl will do to avoid getting to grips with Excel.

All this being a long-winded prelude to my confession to having succumbed to the lure of the 'Popular Posts' gadget. Do I have any popular posts?  I'm trying to keep NGP slimline; the old Greenpatches blog was beginning to develop more extraneous bulges than Yours Truly's burgeoning spare tyre. I may belong to a bells and (occasional very occasional) smells church, but for my own peace of mind, I'd prefer to keep my corner of the blogosphere as free from bells and whistles as I can. Popular posts looks to be a more than acceptable substitute for the Linkwithin widget on the old blog. The latter's logic came over rather hit and miss to me. I wonder what its MBTI profile might be?

I'll  make an exception for  the nifty little Friend's connect gadget, even if  its title conjures up an 'Upstairs Downstairs' scenario for me, with some aristocratic employer shrilling "Absolutely no followers allowed!" at the assembled household staff!

Heigh ho... simplicity is a strange beast. Would Christ have bothered with 'Followers,' I wonder?

Music for a while...

...doth all your cares beguile, especially when it involves a trip to see those Grandaddies of prog rock Jethro Tull. Last night's trip to see Ian Anderson et al perform TAAB and TAAB2, was every bit as enjoyable as the last one was and also fulfilled a life's ambition for Mr GP, who was too young to be able to be able to go and  see the band when the original TAAB was released.

Unlike the 2010 tour though, we enjoyed a grandstand view in the second row from the front, hence I've no idea if 2010's pattern of  audience wandering in and out to spend a penny repeated itself or not. I think the band must have noted this one, though, given Ian Anderson's brief but...ehrm...effective prostate cancer awareness spot.  I'll admit to nearly splitting my sides and worse besides laughing at this point, but seriously, given the average age last night, what better way to get the message over to your target audience.

Though yes, showing a colonoscopy video might have been a step too far!

The Weather - Whatever?

"Information temporarily unavailable." Yes, it's official. We have no weather round these parts. The BBC says so, so it must be true!

We'll just have to resort to the traditional strand of seaweed hung up outside the back door method of meteorology then.

(Photo plucked at random from our travel collection is intended to give an impression of the nothingness of the elements, although it may actually be a) a failed  study of  the interior of a Scottish bothy which I forgot to delete, b) Venice at night or c) Sunset over Oban harbour taken as the camera battery ran out of charge. Take your choice. )

Darkness

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

 - Psalm 139

Singing a new song

Daydreamer's reflections on the joys of singing, made me smile yesterday, as I went back to my weekly singing session after a longish break. I'm not sure that Mr GP is quite   as appreciative of my warbling of Purcell's "Nymphs and Shepherds;"the words "earworm" were mentioned,  my voice  not being anywhere near these two performances here - by Robin Hendrix and of course, the famous 1929 recording  by the Manchester Children's Choir accompanied by the Halle Orchestra.

Never mind, I'll continue to sing on. As I blogged a few years ago:

 I’ve found that half hour really important in all kinds of ways, not the least in the confidence stakes. And even more as something which I do just ‘because,’ and not because I ‘should.’ More especially back last year when I was going through a bit of a bumpy patch. Singing on your own of course, means having to focus (no sitting back and letting the others do the hard work). I quite often come out with if not always a spring in my step, at least a smile on my face and whistling away not so much like a nightingale as a slightly demented sparrow.

As they say (cue  more blatant linking here), Music for a while, doth all your cares beguile. Especially for Yours Truly. I have -  after all -  renamed my favourite psalm The Heffalump.

Grain of Wheat

                                              -  Dorset, May Bank Holiday 2009

...unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. - John 12

God's call to any individual is the most perfect for that one, and our integrity stands or falls by our endeavour to be true to that call.

 - Elisabeth CSF in“Corn of Wheat - the life and history of the Community of St Francis” 

Becket Publications Oxford 1981