Month: December 2023
-
. . . come sailing by . . .
Among the eclectic variety of seasonal songs, delivered with appropriate gusto by the SongWave Choir over our weekend of concerts, the lower voices shared in a Humberside version of the carol ‘I Saw Three Ships.’ As related in the programme notes, the connection of the ships to the heralded events surrounding the Nativity was finally clarified…
-
Freeing the clocks . . .
Maybe it’s that time of life, the time when we all wonder how much we actually have left, or maybe it’s just a set of happy coincidences, or maybe it’s all part of my never-ending search for epiphanies, but for whatever reason, I am currently besotted with clocks. And the clocks that I’m [still] dealing…
-
Cams, programs, switches and bongs . . .
For whatever reason, I’ve been identified locally as the guy who loves to fix things. Or let’s say rather, who loves to see things working correctly. I don’t mind work-arounds, not at all, but if the end result is that the thing is working and performing the function for which it was intended, I’m a happy guy.…
-
Windmills in the clouds . . .
It was a misty morning, and there were icy patches on the tarmac as I hopped it down to the Men’s Coffee Morning. I thought, as I passed this scene, that it was quite remarkable, and then I realised that I’d better extract my iPhone and take a quick snap. Far across the valley of…
-
In the face of death . . .
I was going to sit here, after our festive lights have come on in the dark late afternoon, and write about the joy of singing. Or the joy of participation — we’ve got tickets for the annual pantomime put on by the Youth Players at the CatStrand Arts Centre, just down the High Street from…
-
Warmth . . . on the first rung of the hierarchy of human needs . . . still valid!
Cold outside, and getting colder! Awakening to -8ºC the other day, and pretty much freezing thereafter in the early mornings before the sunshine arrives, we’ve been struggling to enjoy the start of our days. I began to insist that my beloved snuggle under the warm covers for a final snooze, while I finessed the coffee…
-
The festive season begins . . .
The first Sunday in December is often, but not always, also the first Sunday in Advent, the start of the Christmas season. But I believe that December’s first Sunday is always the traditional ‘lights-up’ event here in New Galloway, which we shall experience this year for the first time. Villagers apparently gather at the Golf…
-
Being part of a community
I had a little epiphany yesterday late afternoon, as darkness fell. As you walk down the road towards New Galloway’s Town Hall, you can see two clock faces, and they’ve been lit since the clock was repaired. Before that happy event, I was up in the tower helping to clear countless years worth of jackdaw…
Roads to Joy 