Another cold run this morning, with Morning Office, hot breakfast, morning Mass, a little time on Legends, a protracted exploration of rural Oxfordshire (in the abstract; Margaret is working on a jigsaw puzzle map of Oxford from the early 17th century) whereby we sought the settlement which seemed to read ‘Jewcote’ on the map (obviously a startling, disturbing toponym). I couldn’t find any reference to a ‘Jewcote’ in Oxfordshire at all, but by comparing its position to other nearby municipalities, we deduced that it must be Fencott. That was exciting. We also remarked on the sudden frequency of particular phrases — Margaret noted ‘perfect storm’, which rocketed into prominence after Sebastian Junger published his best-selling book about the town next to her hometown; I flagged up the phrase ‘sea change’, which was uncommon through my younger years, but started trending upward dramatically around 1980. Now, one can hardly encounter any converging adversities without them becoming a perfect storm of misery, one that doesn’t just bring about dramatic effects, but has to cause a sea change in circumstances.
A little more Legends, some keyboard tappings toward James and miracles, leftover pasta for dinner, and an episode of Midsomer Murders.