On Wednesday 21 I went in for the School Mass and got back to enjoy some R&R by the pool. I managed to witness the mating display of a male azole lizard to a local female. I discovered his gender not by anatomical inspection but having googled discovered that males are green and woo their female by expanding their throat into a red bubble. It did nothing for me but the black female seemed as though she was playing hard to get!

Thursday started with a visit by the entire Pastoral staff team (9) to the Trinity Cafe. We had been hearing great things about this place and now was our chance to volunteer as a team. We were warmly welcomed to the place by the staff there. The kitchen had been equipped by Outback restaurant and produced a 3-course meal which attracted 264 homeless and hungry through its doors. It was really well-organised. My job was to serve the meals when guests wished and to keep the conversation going. My last customer, an intimidatingly large black man, tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to step outside to look after his blue bike! This unusual request was a first for the cafe. On my return to the office the photocopier was being used to run a long job so instead I chose to prepare the music sheets for Triduum. Then at 7pm I went over to play for a funeral.

On Friday I spent the entire day on Caladesi Island with my kayak. On my return I stopped at Charann’s Tavern, my old local, to keep contact with my friends there. I drank only lemonade!

On Saturday I went in around midday and had a meeting about a wedding which went very well. Then I played the 4pm Vigil Mass and thus started the weekend sequence of Masses. The choir excelled themselves with everything they sang. The highpoint was Tom Lowenthal’s ‘And you pursue me’. Two more folk expressed an interest in joining the choir so I hope they’ll carry that through. During the afternoon I returned home to enjoy a few hours by the pool. It was 87F!

On Monday I went out to Caladesi on my kayak again. There was no point staying around the house as workmen arrived early to begin work on replacing the roof. It was over 6 months since Irma sent a tree through the roof and it was good to see the tarpaulin disappear finally. Later that evening I returned to church to listen to Fr Paul Deutsch SJ deliver the first of a 2-day Lenten Mission.

On Tuesday I had a meeting with the Deacon about Triduum and spent the rest of the day continuing to prepare the music.In the evening I attended the second talk of the Lenten Mission.

On Wednesday, after the School Mass, I went into a meeting of the Liturgy Committee regarding Triduum. It was rather frustrating as we got bogged down in detail and had to rush discussion of Easter Vigil. Leo, our Spanish musician, was also there so we remained after that to look at the music I had prepared for the bilingual celebrations.

It was now 1.30pm and there was no point in going home so I stayed to work on. During the afternoon I received an invitation to consider teaching organ to the most gifted pianists at the nearby Jesuit College. I registered my interest and look forward to seeing how this might develop. I had a meeting with the Pastor at 5pm and a choir practice after that so it made sense. It also made for a 14hour day!

Normally I would have worked on Thursday but I had already completed more than 40 hours so I relaxed at home. I did relax but also deconstructed an outside bar so that I could construct it more carefully this time! I also brought out into the garden much of the outside furniture I had collected months ago. Later in the evening I returned to Charann’s Tavern for more lemonade. Later that evening I stopped to look at a sofa set I had seen advertised. It would be perfect for my lounge and came with occasional tables and also two wing-back chairs which I’d use in the bedrooms. The vendor was a very interesting guy and he and his wife even hoped to keep in touch after the sale. They would deliver the furniture next week.

On Friday I did much the same as yesterday but also managed to get some chemicals to dry out a tree stump in the area of the pond I had cleared a few weeks ago. It was still very warm today but rather cloudy. In sympathy with my friends in UK we would have to endure a cold snap over the next few days as temperatures were expected to plunge to the mid-70s!