Month: March 2021

Monday, March 29. WFH: DAY 65/LENT 34. 7.00 am: It was too drizzly and wind-swept to contemplate a walk into the forest. 7.45 am: A communion. I’d be clocking-off for a week’s vacation beginning on Good Friday. A social-media radio silence would also be observed. There was much to complete in the days leading up to it. Yesterday, while taking a…

I learned to love the hard way Friday, March 26. WFH: DAY 64/LENT 33. 6.45 am: There’d be no traipsing around on the forest floor for me this morning. The wind had risen, while the rain descended. 7.15 am: A communion. 7.45 am: I undertook a little emailery and postgraduate admin, before launching into writing for the ‘Noisome Spirits’ website once…

What was begun in honour will end in dishonour;And what was begun in joy will end in sorrow;And those who gave will take away.‘God is not mocked’. WFH: DAY 63/LENT 32. Feast of the Annunciation. In my dream, I was about to administer the vaccine to members of the public without any prior training. I was clueless. (Sublimated imposter syndrome, perhaps.)…

‘He restoreth my soul’ (Psalm 23.3).Distract yourself from distracting thoughts. WFH: DAY 62/LENT 31. 7.30 am: On my walk homeward from the Parc, sunlight broke through the morning mist and raked the high-ground all around. Trees that were formerly indistinguishable from one another against the dark density of the forest, now stood in stark relief. In that moment, both the world…

WFH: DAY 61/LENT 30. The anniversary of the first lockdown. On the way through the roads and streets between my house and the entrance to Parc Natur Penglais, I passed children heading (early) to the secondary school at the top of the hill. My mind returned to the days when I’d catch the No. 9 Hills of Tredegar coach from…

‘One of the most important questions every artist has to ask is: “Is it worth persevering?”‘ (Yulia Mahr) Sunday, March 21. Passion Sunday and Census Day: The details of the census will not be publicly accessible for a hundred years. Given the nature of the year in which it has been undertaken, I’ve no doubt that the returns will attract…

Friday, March 19. WFH: DAY 58/LENT 27. 7.00 am: The morning mist was denser today. The ground squelched under foot; leaves and soil along the path were, now, indistinguishable — like the mud pies I used to make (and taste) as a toddler. Forensic: 8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: I set up the room and the PowerPoints for the…

WFH: DAY 57/LENT 26. Yesterday evening, I opened an unexpected package.  It contained an egg flute (which is rather like a Xun) made by the cellist and maker of sound objects, Ecka Mordecai. There’s just one hole, at the top of the egg, across which the egg-flautist blows in order to make a sound: 7.30 am: Outwards. The town was…

WFH: DAY 56/LENT 25. 7.30 am: ‘If you go down to the woods today …’. I was there in body, but my mind was elsewhere. (‘Be present, John!’, the voice scolded.) No one else was there. But I didn’t feel alone. Behind and underneath the surface complexity, thousand of creatures hid and went about their lives. One can believe without seeing.…

WFH: DAY 55/LENT 24. 7.30 am: Drizzledom: The daily amble would need to be postponed until later. 8.00 am: A communion. An impromptu staff meeting has been called for lunchtime tomorrow, in order to discuss arrangements for a return to blended teaching following the Easter vacation. The proposition is not straight forward. 8.30 am: Admin. 9.30 am: The first of…