More Miles, More Days

I ran my morning route both of the last two days (in unseasonably, unreasonably warm weather), had my fruit breakfast and coffee, cared for the Margaret-bereft canines, made a foray in Oxford yesterday and will do today as well, picked up a grocery or two, and have been thinking hard about Sunday’s sermon. It’s been a long time since I’ve preached as often as I do now, and my idea-muscles are a bit stiff and shaky. First Lent, here I come!

Ashvalent

I did not run this morning, as I was out late at Oriel’s Theology Dinner. I woke up in time to begin bashing out a homily for our Ash Wednesday morning service; at this evening’s service, I’m mostly just decorative. The wee duggies were anxious about my leaving for a few hours so soon after waking up after being out late, but by now they’re sleeping again (wish I were! But I have plenty to do today). I have marking to tackle this afternoon, then the evening service, video call with Margaret in the States, then probably just collapse in a heap preparatory to waking up bright and early tomorrow to do more marking and go back to Oxford for a tutorial. Heaven permitting, I can have a restorative Thursday evening and Friday….

Wall to Wall

Ran my two miles, coffee and fruit, am reading a student essay, will clean up and go to Morning Prayer, dash back to feed and air the dogs, then to the bus stop to get to Oxford for tutorials by 11:00, then home to Abingdon for an afternoon appointment, then time for more marking till I return to Oriel for the annual Theology Dinner, from which I have to leave promptly to get back to the dogs at the end of the day. Good thing I’m semi-retired.

Semi-Retired, With The Accent on ‘Semi’

Up for my morning run, coffee, Morning Prayer (at home), a second cup and hot breakfast, give the sermon a once-over, print, shower, hurry to church, preach and assist, talk with church-goers at the door, join a Young Server Recruitment meeting, stumble home, lunch, begin proofreading Ash Wednesday bulletins…. I’m wishing I had thought to pick up some frozen meals at the grocery store the other day.

Early Start Early Nap

We woke up execrably early this morning so that Margaret could catch the first flight to Boston out of Heathrow. That means catching the bus out of Abingdon, changing for the Airliner coach in Oxford, and arriving in good time for the international flight; added to the joys of early-morning multimodal transport this morning was a steady rain, though it let up for a few moments as Margaret was leaving the house.

I made a prudential decision that I wouldn’t try to drag my sorry self in to Oxford in the afternoon for the New Testament seminar, loath though I be to miss it. I didn’t want to fall asleep and topple over the in-built desks, or snore, or stay barely awake and spend the whole afternoon wishing I had stayed home. This way I can catch up on some work, prepare for tomorrow’s Wedding Workshop at the parish, and perhaps snag a wee nap to make up for the early (even by my standards) wake-up time.

Nope, Not In Cold Rain

I will not run my miles through a steady rain in single-digit temps. That’s a firm negatory. Instead I sdat and talked with Margaret about various aspects of her travel plans, what to expect when she gets to Pat’s house, and so on. I marked essays, listened to the Cardboards live at Charlie’s 10¢ Saloon (‘Ah, sonny boy, those were the days…’), and am about to leave for Oxford to give a couple of tutorials — then home to resume helping Margaret.

On

So, a busy day today. I ran my two (a decent time, actually, for a change), then coffee and fruit and cleaning up, then Morning Prayer, then back to church for a (long) weekly staff meeting. Then home to turn back to home-work. I’m cooking dinner for my sweetheart, then an evening of crime drama….

Orphans

Margaret and I are both orphans, now. Yesterday at 8:00 EST/1:00 GMT, Patricia P Bamforth died in her sleep at her hospital in Augusta, Maine. I’ll post an obit later, but for now suffice it to say that we were neither surprised nor fully prepared. Just Saturday she had agreed to moving to a place in a very pleasant care home, and she seemed to be on a resurgence; but Sunday she had changed her mind and asked that all life support be removed, and Monday morning she gave over mortality.

I did not run yesterday; I did this morning, as part of reinscribing us in some sort of normal life, reasserting forward momentum to amplify the gyroscopic power of daily routines. We need all the power of dailiness to carry us onward, through the disconcerting memories and realisations of the last few weeks.

Working Preacher

Full day at church — after having run my two miles and said Morning Prayer and showered and dressed, all before 7:15, I made my way to church for the 8:00 service. Then I came home to say Good Morning to Margaret, then back to church to walk through the special service for the Thanksgiving for Children, then the service itself in which I preached again, then a break before I led the parish Faith Forum on The Sacraments, by the end of which I was capital-K knackered.

License Put To Work

Ran (walked part of) my two miles, Morning Prayer, hot breakfast, and now to work up a sermon for tomorrow and a Faith Forum on ‘the sacraments’ (‘On the Very Idea of a Sacrament’ for you Davidson aficionados).

As I Was Saying

I ran all three of the last mornings (short route on Wednesday, as I was short of sleep and a bit achey from so much standing up). I had been putting off blogging, partly because I have had a full plate of things to do and partly because I was hoping to be able to link to a recording of the service. That is still in the offing, I trust, but I can’t stall indefinitely. For now, the story is that I am well and truly licensed; it was a lovely service, including a psalm setting by Nate; my Wednesday then was a full-on work day. I’ve also had some marking to sort; that’s almost done. And I must work up a sermon for Sunday, when our parish observes Candlemas.

Life is good.