Month: September 2026

We had an outage Tuesday and Wednesday, possibly related to the rainfall (not an extraordinary amount, but maybe the superdry earth… oh, I don’t know). In any case, we had limited access, and as part of that I didn’t blog yesterday, nor Tuesday after our wireless quit. I did run a full (but slow, not in shape yet) morning miles, both Wednesday and today, and tackled various church and home tasks. Progress is progressing on both the home acquisition front and on the British citizenship front, and we expect to have good news in both departments coming up soon. Tonight, we’re having a celebratory dinner in town.

I didn’t run this morning, mostly because of the rain (but in part because we stayed up late last night to watch the last episode of Trigger Point). Coffee, fruit, Morning Prayer, groceries, home for second coffee and toast. For the rest of the day, I’ll mostly work on Sunday’s sermon and parish work projects.

I ran, slowly, this morning, and made triumphant coffee and ate the fruit of persistent progress. Showered, attended Morning Prayer, held public office hours at R&R, straightened out some tax questions, some Home Office questions, some home-buying questions, some holiday planning questions, and even sorted some emails. Began preparing for next Sunday’s sermon for Holy Cross day (observed). Et cetera.

And such an afternoon before it!

The wedding was lovely — gosh, I’m going to miss weddings whenI retire — with a willing congregation, a lovely couple (of course), an ensemble of exceptional musicians (along with our own director of music), and distinctive readings, making for another banger of a wedding in this summer o’ matrimony. Incidental music included a performance of Stephin Merritt’s ‘The Book of Love’, which I would not have ventured to program, but which was very affecting in the context. The music was an exceptional high point; it would be great if it had been recorded, but that was not to be, and we are left with the evanescent memories of a unique sacramental occasion.

After the wedding, I hustled homeward, freshened up, changed ecclesiastical garments for formal social occasion raiment, and celebrated Oriel College’s 700th anniversary at an Alumni Ball.

There we met our parish neighbours Brendan and Rosie Harris, a contemporary of Rosie’s, Anatole Sloan, a more recent former student of mine Sea Yun Pius Joung (currently undertaking doctoral study at a benighted institution in the Fens) (he kept saying, ‘At our sister college!’ as if that obviated the stained escutcheon of association with the eastward-fleeing tutors), internet acquaintance Madeline Odent, and John Ritzema.

Dinner of satay grilled aubergine and rice was terrific, though the lights kept dimming abruptly.

Strolling around the three quads, acknowledging six interlocutors who ‘love your hat!’, watching the ceilidh, encouraging the rock and jazz bands, feeling both a little younger, going to such a party, and a little bit older, tiring out sooner than we used to.

This morning I did not even try for a run, but had a good sleep till almost seven o’clock, made a hot breakfast, gave my sermon (posted below) a look-over and edit, and headed to St Nic’s for Mattins.

After Mattins, I hopped over to Waitrose to pick up some groceries. On my way, a friendly bicyclist pulled over before me and asked whether he might ask a question. He had no doubt about God’s existence — he is a faithful Muslim, he said — but for the past twenty years or more, he felt that God had withdrawn from the world. Was he abandoned??
I had seen him in the square busking, so I took a flyer and suggested that distant as God might seem, that he knew that good still remained in the world cos he played music. Though he might not see signs of God, he knew that the chords he played, the melodies and harmonies communicated something of God’s glory, and his participation in making that music gives the best reason he could have to trust God. That set his mind at ease, at least for the now.

On my way home, two lads were sat across the road from me in front of St Helen’s. They clocked me and exchanged a few words with one another, then one called out to me, ‘Bonjour!’ Ipaused for a second and answered, ‘B’jour!’ and they said it again, and I answered again. ‘Ça va!’ they said; ‘Ça va bien!’ I replied.

And came home.
Continue reading “Such A Night”

To be honest, it was another slow jog; I didn’t run at all yesterday as it was rainy, so today’s run was beset both by the punctuated inactivity due to weather (welcome rain) since our holiday and by the annoyingly persistent cough-and-cold that began ten days or so ago. Still, I did slow-jog my morning miles, made coffee and grabbed some fruit, and am now cooling down and taking a break from contemplating tomorrow’s sermon. I hope ‘contemplating’ will help, since ‘racking my brain and typing any old nonsense that occurs to me’ didn’t get me very far yesterday.

It’s important that I come up with something this morning, ’cos I have a wedding this afternoon, and the Oriel College 700th Anniversary Alumni Ball this evening. (The Rector has graciously taken over tomorrow’s early service for me — otherwise I might have stumbled into an involuntary all-nighter.) That does mean, however, that I’ll have precious little time after this morning to devote to homiletical preparation.

Both the wedding and the ball should be splendid indeed, if I’m not too worn out to enjoy them. The wedding will feature some world-class musicians (theorbo!) contributing their gifts to the celebration, and the Ball will involve all manner of festivities that I don’t expect to participate in (‘Me? Dancing? In this economy?’) but I hope to meet some former students and hitherto-unfamiliar alums. And food and wine to Oriel’s typical standard.

The weather has been threatening rain since I woke up an hour or so ago, so no run today (if had known that it wouldn’t rain…). Coffee and fruit, put the rubbish bin out, shower, Morning Prayer, home for coffee and toast, and work on Sunday’s homily (knocked out tomorrow’s homily yestereday). Wedding rehearsal this afternoon.

Our Oxford pocket diaries were announced as being shipped from 28 August (late, but okay), then after I preordered them to receive them ASAP, that was shifted to 2 September, and now they’re slated to be shipped on 16 September — just a couple of weeks before term-time. I spent an hour or so yesterday afternoon improvising a few extra weeks to add to my now-expired last year’s diary to tide me over to the actual arrival. Honestly, the days of the year, and even the dates of term, are not secret. They’ve been set for ages — how does it take Blackwell’s OUP to the last moment to get the diaries ready?

Tuesday morning I felt as though the fog was lifting, the clouds parting, and the head cold was dissipating to a moderately comfortable condition. Yesterday morning I woke up after a short, frustrating night without even the energy to walk my morning miles, impatient for my morning cup of coffee. pulled myself together, went to Morning Prayer, came home for a second cup and a slight resting time before the weekly staff meeting (which resumed this week after August’s end). The remainder of the day I napped and started reading There Is No Antimemetics Division.

All of the above included regrettable amounts of coughing and nose-blowing.

I didn’t sleep especially well last night, either, but I got six hours, and I’ll nap more today. I jogged — slowly — my morning miles, without breaking stride into a walk. And I’ll finish Antimemetics, qntm (the author-nym) has written so intensely cleverly that I almost lose track of the sorrowful plot and the doomed characters. I only have a little left to go, and I look forward to not having to think so hard as I read! I’ve also been listening to ‘It’s a Superpower??’, the comic podcast by and for autistic people, which I’m enjoying so far.

I started out this morning with the goal of running my whole course, but after a short while I began coughing and snuffling, so we must mark today in the record-books as ‘ran and walked’. Then coffee, fruit, shower, Morning Prayer, coffee, toast… and a nap….