It’s been two weeks since my last confession and these are my sins:

I went on holiday (or as the Americans would have it ‘vacation’). It must be a sin because Americans seem to be quite happy with so little of it! I have no such scruples and delight in doing very little that is work orientated when I am on holiday. I had planned the previous few days so that all my work was done by Wednesday so I left very early in the morning in order to get to the East Coast of Florida in time for sunrise. In the event I got there much earlier bu it was good to see the bird-life forecast the sunrise long before it occurred.

I had decided to stay in Cocoa beach and had managed to secure through AirBnb a beachside bungalow. It really provided all you needed for one person and little more which was ideal. It promised wifi but did not deliver efficiently and then I had the issue of the lights switched off in the morning being found on when I returned. This was a bit scary but I put it down to the Hurricane Matthew which had passed only 2 weeks earlier. There was quite a bit of destruction evident with many windows boarded up and businesses closed and awaiting repairs. The streets were lined with tree debris awaiting municipal collection. On the beach any wooden walkways were destroyed and washed away as were some of the dunes which they were built to protect from human feet. Thankfully Matthew had struck at low tide or ealse the damage would have been more significant.

It was a wonderful place to appreciate the wonders of nature and I saw my first florida alligators.

In the evening I passed the time in a number of nearby bars/restaurants. The closest was Hogan’s Irish Bar which alongside traditional music also offered good beer and a warm welcome. One night they had a quiz and it seemed that everyone turned up for that. The quiz-master had just returned from rehab so it was a rather unique event as was the following night’s pumpkin carving class! At an English pub I discovered Shepherd’s Pie and the following night a fish & chip special which resembled the UK version. Two pizza restaurants were recommended and they both offered pizzas no smaller than 19inches! In a  nearby town whose name escapes me there was an small Playalinda Brewery Company with excellent beers offered at its only two outlets.

The last day Friday promised to be cloudy so I drove the 2 hours back to Tampa and had a relaxing day by the pool.

I had purchased a new Nissan Rogue in February 2016 and had become disturbed that the mileage was consistently around 19 per gallon. Mysteriously on this trip it was almost 28 and had hovered around 26 ever since. Could be that the car had to be ‘run in’?

The first week back turned out to be a full one with the usual stuff over the weekend but the feasts of All Saints and the Holy Souls falling in mid week. This meant several additional Masses. There had also been an accident at the school involving two best friends. The prank had serious consequences and one of them ended up in intensive care where he still remains. This provoked a series of additional prayer events which I had to serve. The week ended with two funerals: one with only seven attendees, the other with hundreds.

My return from holiday prompted one school staff member to comment that I had ‘an awful lot of holiday’. Well, consistent with so many American workers, I don’t and gave her the opportunity to retract the statement. She didn’t so I complained to her boss and the apology came fairly quickly!

The same day one of my choir who offloaded 15 bottles of beer on a very welcome me. The same person later revealed that she would be operated on for breast cancer in a few days. The choir has become such a close community of prayer and we were able to add several other concerns to the list.

Politically everything is bizarre here. There is genuine frustration among so many at the poor choice they have. One parishioner wrote to me enchanted that Trump had sought to defend the Catholic position. For most here that means anti abortion/pro life. It all reminded me of the temptation of Jesus in the desert … you can have all this if you just vote for me. There is so much demonising going on in the Presidential and State elections. And as Clinton becomes more deeply involved in her own scandals Trump’s seem to be less serious somehow. I was a bit perturbed when one of our clergy closed the Mass by reminding folk to vote according to Catholic teaching. More enlightened was another priest’s comment that God was present last week, would be present this week and in the future whatever the political outcome.

The week ended with two phone conversations. One was to a friend who had left UK to join family in Australia at the same time as I had left for USA. I had spoken with her a few times but this time her environment seemed very different. She had had a breakdown and was now in hospital under treatment. I needed to remind her of the beautiful person she is and in whom she would soon regain confidence.

The other conversation was with Tony Barr, a UK musician who had been in the USA for years. I had known him from a distance as a composer and friend of Bill Tamblyn and particularly of Bernard Huijbers (one-time Jesuit) and the other members of the Amsterdam School. It was a delight to hear of his endeavours and to share a few of mine whilst quaffing a few beers. The only disturbing thing was that the beer was infused with pretzels. What?

Tomorrow, Monday, I will take one of my Thriftstore ‘bargains’ to a repairers to see if they can get it working. It is a top of the range ‘Rotel’ amplifier for a whole house sound system. I managed to beat the Thriftstore down to $200 from $700 … I felt a little cheap about that until I got it home and found it did not work. If a few dollars more can get it going then it will once more be the bargain in which I so often delight!

It’s been two weeks since my last confession and these are my sins:

I went on holiday (or as the Americans would have it ‘vacation’). It must be a sin because Americans seem to be quite happy with so little of it! I have no such scruples and delight in doing very little that is work orientated when I am on holiday. I had planned the previous few days so that all my work was done by Wednesday so I left very early in the morning in order to get to the East Coast of Florida in time for sunrise. In the event I got there much earlier bu it was good to see the bird-life forecast the sunrise long before it occurred.

I had decided to stay in Cocoa beach and had managed to secure through AirBnb a beachside bungalow. It really provided all you needed for one person and little more which was ideal. It promised wifi but did not deliver efficiently and then I had the issue of the lights switched off in the morning being found on when I returned. This was a bit scary but I put it down to the Hurricane Matthew which had passed only 2 weeks earlier. There was quite a bit of destruction evident with many windows boarded up and businesses closed and awaiting repairs. The streets were lined with tree debris awaiting municipal collection. On the beach any wooden walkways were destroyed and washed away as were some of the dunes which they were built to protect from human feet. Thankfully Matthew had struck at low tide or ealse the damage would have been more significant.

It was a wonderful place to appreciate the wonders of nature and I saw my first florida alligators.

In the evening I passed the time in a number of nearby bars/restaurants. The closest was Hogan’s Irish Bar which alongside traditional music also offered good beer and a warm welcome. One night they had a quiz and it seemed that everyone turned up for that. The quiz-master had just returned from rehab so it was a rather unique event as was the following night’s pumpkin carving class! At an English pub I discovered Shepherd’s Pie and the following night a fish & chip special which resembled the UK version. Two pizza restaurants were recommended and they both offered pizzas no smaller than 19inches! In a  nearby town whose name escapes me there was an small Playalinda Brewery Company with excellent beers offered at its only two outlets.

The last day Friday promised to be cloudy so I drove the 2 hours back to Tampa and had a relaxing day by the pool.

I had purchased a new Nissan Rogue in February 2016 and had become disturbed that the mileage was consistently around 19 per gallon. Mysteriously on this trip it was almost 28 and had hovered around 26 ever since. Could be that the car had to be ‘run in’?

The first week back turned out to be a full one with the usual stuff over the weekend but the feasts of All Saints and the Holy Souls falling in mid week. This meant several additional Masses. There had also been an accident at the school involving two best friends. The prank had serious consequences and one of them ended up in intensive care where he still remains. This provoked a series of additional prayer events which I had to serve. The week ended with two funerals: one with only seven attendees, the other with hundreds.

My return from holiday prompted one school staff member to comment that I had ‘an awful lot of holiday’. Well, consistent with so many American workers, I don’t and gave her the opportunity to retract the statement. She didn’t so I complained to her boss and the apology came fairly quickly!

The same day one of my choir who offloaded 15 bottles of beer on a very welcome me. The same person later revealed that she would be operated on for breast cancer in a few days. The choir has become such a close community of prayer and we were able to add several other concerns to the list.

Politically everything is bizarre here. There is genuine frustration among so many at the poor choice they have. One parishioner wrote to me enchanted that Trump had sought to defend the Catholic position. For most here that means anti abortion/pro life. It all reminded me of the temptation of Jesus in the desert … you can have all this if you just vote for me. There is so much demonising going on in the Presidential and State elections. And as Clinton becomes more deeply involved in her own scandals Trump’s seem to be less serious somehow. I was a bit perturbed when one of our clergy closed the Mass by reminding folk to vote according to Catholic teaching. More enlightened was another priest’s comment that God was present last week, would be present this week and in the future whatever the political outcome.

The week ended with two phone conversations. One was to a friend who had left UK to join family in Australia at the same time as I had left for USA. I had spoken with her a few times but this time her environment seemed very different. She had had a breakdown and was now in hospital under treatment. I needed to remind her of the beautiful person she is and in whom she would soon regain confidence.

The other conversation was with Tony Barr, a UK musician who had been in the USA for years. I had known him from a distance as a composer and friend of Bill Tamblyn and particularly of Bernard Huijbers (one-time Jesuit) and the other members of the Amsterdam School. It was a delight to hear of his endeavours and to share a few of mine whilst quaffing a few beers. The only disturbing thing was that the beer was infused with pretzels. What?

Tomorrow, Monday, I will take one of my Thriftstore ‘bargains’ to a repairers to see if they can get it working. It is a top of the range ‘Rotel’ amplifier for a whole house sound system. I managed to beat the Thriftstore down to $200 from $700 … I felt a little cheap about that until I got it home and found it did not work. If a few dollars more can get it going then it will once more be the bargain in which I so often delight!

Tuesday was the parish and School Staff Retreat. My first experience of these was not good as it did not bear much resemblance to any retreat I had been through. Last year’s was better with more imput and this one was the best so far. It took place in the Bethany Centre, a fabulous estate owned by the Diocese with various buildings and a church built around a large lake. We began with breakfast and an opening prayer and then 3 sessions from a diocesan priest from Ireland who has been incardenated here for a while. The day ended with a ‘midday prayer’ on the theme of ‘Christ in our midst’. I devised this following the basic structure from the Liturgy of the Hours but chose my own selection of psalms to focus on the theme. Our Pastor presided and added an anointing at the end. As I was anointed on the hands with blessed oil I had overlooked the problem of playing piano with oily hands. The next guy to play that piano would doubtless have problems!

Wednesday began with School Mass after which I went to Guitar Centre to pick up some equipment I’d ordered. I had been in dispute with them since they had failed to repay the sales tax to the church which is tax exempt. In the event they added a couple of items at no cost to compensate us.

I spent the afternoon by the pool before returning to prepare for choir practice. There was a good attendance and we managed to get through all that I had wanted. I had adapted a setting of psalm 121 I written in UK to the US texts and it was good to hear the choir pick u and enjoy the SATB arrangement.

On Thursday I tried to download and install the recording software which was among the goodies I had collected the previous day. I didn’t manage it and before long it was time for lunch and a two hour staff meeting. Immediately following this I met with the family of one of our teachers who had died as a result of a fall at her pool. It was all very tragic and the family were understandably numbed. We managed to sort the music for them without too much unnecessary pressure on them.

This morning I was able to skype my mum and catch up on the family news before spending a couple of hours at the beach and then spending the afternoon reading by the pool. In the evening I joined friends at a local bar, returned home and fell asleep in the chair. It is now just past 2am and unable to sleep I have decided to bring the log up to date a bit!

A week ago back home in UK my niece Bethan had organised an evenings music and comedy entertainment at their local. Entitled EmFest it was a kind of memorial to her sister Emily who took her life two years ago. 200 people turned up and they raised over 3000 pounds for Mind charity. Today they received a letter from HRH Prince Harry who regretted being unable to attend!

It’s been quite a week with the main event being the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. Here in Tampa people went into panic mode and bottled water was hard to find on supermarket shelves as people prepared to ‘hunker down’. In the event Tampa was barely affected and despite some increase in wind the thing passed without concern. The same cannot be said for those in Haiti, the Bahamas or along the east coast of Florida. There has been massive loss of life reported in Haiti and complete devastation of communities barely recovered from the 2010 hurricane.

Our local bishop ordered $250, 000 from funds to go to relief and a second collection was taken at all Masses over the weekend. It was fortunate that the readings this weekend were about gratitude and the relationship with strangers.

Into all this played the second Presidential Debate. It surprised me from the outset that no one had the guts to inform Trump that his tie was tied so incorrectly tied that the bottom stuck out from his jacket. Maybe he was trying to cover his fly which had been the source of so much gossip since the release of embarrassing tapes two days earlier?

Yesterday a parishioner sent me an article in which Trump promised to be the all in all for Catholics. I replied by suggesting that it was similar to Satan offering everything (that was not his to offer) if only Jesus would bow down and worship him. In the bar during the debate (which I had recorded) the sound was turned up on the baseball and silent on the debate. Folk just are not interested in the debate … just in the gossip! I wonder what will be reported now that Pope Francis appears to advised folk to vote Trump!

Workwise it was fairly hectic. We learned earlier in the week that tomorrow (Tuesday) we have a School and Parish Staff Retreat. This would mean a day off for the school but would reduce essential preparation time for the parish staff. I also learned that I would be expected to create a prayer time based on the Liturgy of the Hours and on the theme of Christ in our midst. I chose verses from psalm 12, 73 and 139, Christ be beside me and Always in your presence and hope that it all works. Our priests have been away on a Clergy 4 days together so I haven’t been able to get any feedback.

 

 

 

In my last blog I forgot to mention that increasingly I had noticed I was being bitten in my apartment. Over two particular nights I was experiencing an onslaught and imagined mosquitoes with machine guns. Action was required. On the Sunday I left for church but left three canisters ‘fogging’ the place with poison. When I returned in the afternoon I found various bugs dead and have had no bites since.

This week has been busy but I still manage to guard my days off and my sanity. School Mass was wonderful on Wednesday with really good singing from the choir. I spent the rest of the morning communicating with choir, cantors and instrumentalists. Then had a break by the pool for the afternoon returning later to the office to prepare materials for choir practice.

I had given over Thursday to work on the next month’s school Masses but the material I required from the school arrived so late I started on other things instead. I had a webinar on music technology at midday and a 2-hour staff meeting immediately after that. I then joined friends at the bar.

I spent Friday with my kayak visiting Tarpon Springs to where I had been reccommended. In the event it was not so impressive so I adjourned to the Causeway from Dunedin and launched my kayak to Caladesi Island where I spent much of the day.

Saturday was spent with office, a funeral and a vigil Mass with sporadic work in between on the school Masses. I was happy to have completed the monthly song sheet and got 650 copies printed.

Sunday was much as ever. I reintroduced my New Wine Glory and Lamb of God alongside John Bell’s Greenbelt Alleluia, a plainsong ‘Lord have mercy’ and Mass of Creation acclamations. I can aver that many have not lost their memory yet! We had a visiting priest from Togo speaking at all Masses. as a gift to him at the final Mass I sang John Bell’s version of Je lourai l’eternel. It turned out to be one of his favourites and he sang along with me!

Today I am attempting to clean the apartment. I’ve done a fairly good job of filing correspondence but have caused a mess in the process. Still there is a lot of paper awaiting the trash collection and that must be good!

It’s been two weeks since I last wrote and I won’t be able to do a day by day submission because I left my diary at work.

Work has been busy but I’ve been able to get back to forward-planning after a frenetic summer. The choir goes from strength to strength and last week we did John Bell’s Blessed are you poor. I even surprised them by insisting we did it unaccompanied and was delighted with the results. We have also introduced my ‘What has passed our lips’ because a UK friend confided that his congregation have been singing it at every Mass for the past few years. When he dropped it one week he was almost linched! May be I should send it for publication.

It was great to hear from Stephen Hicks my old organ teacher. He has been living and working in Norway since 1983 so I have not heard him play for a long time. He wrote to suggest that we meet up when he visits Florida in March. He also suggested that he might give a few concerts so I’m starting to contact various venues where they welcome great organists.

I recently bought some music gear from Guitar Center here in Tampa. They kept me 2 hours just to place an order which I had already sorted and then they got it wrong. So I complained to the Head Office and hope that things will be easy when I go to collect the gear. I’m not holding my breath.

I arrived in the parking lot for my apartment at the same time as a neighbour was offloading his supermarket purchases. I gave him a hand to the 3rd floor. He had been drinking quite a lot but even still I was surprised to see him fall backwards down the steps and smash his head on the concrete landing. I accompanied him into the apartment, stemmed the flow of blood and poured him a beer. He seemed OK if shaken. The next morning I popped into to see if he was OK. His scalp was still red raw but his real pain was in his shoulder so I offered him a  couple of heavy duty painkillers with a narcotic edge to them. He’s been flying high ever since I suspect.

I finally got around to writing some music for the new wedding rites. I recalled a text from the OCM 93 which I could use for this purpose. I wrote the music very quickly but need to hear back from the owners of the text before I can take this further.

I’m thinking of launching a campaign against the inappropriate use of the word ‘awesome’. Some of my work colleagues use it ad nauseam and seem impervious to my vomiting in my office. Only last night a local beer rep asked me whether I liked IPA beer. I only had to say Yes to warrant the response ‘Awesome’. Now God, the miracle of birth and the Grand Canyon are awesome but I don’t think everything is!

While I’m venting my spleen I must mention the elections here. Last night 100million Americans watched Donald and Senator Clinton in their first debate.  I wouldn’t want to say who ‘won’ … I am so grateful that I am not allowed to vote here … but both lost it. Perhaps 90 minutes is too long for people this age!

The hurricane season is officially over. It still rains heavily most evenings but the daytime temps soar into the 90s and it is wonderfully sunny. After 6 weeks of uncertain weather it is great to be able to get out on the kayak again so I work hard in order to spend days off relaxing with an easy conscience.

Saturday was a busy day in which my task was to ctreate and print the song sheets for the school’s liturgical music practice. This was interrupted by a funeral around midday and the usual Vigil Mass later that evening. Sunday was barely noteworthy with the usual flow of Masses and a return for the Evening Mass.

Monday was a holiday. It would ordinarily have been my day off so I would take that some other time. It is strange thing of language that a day off becomes a holiday which I may be able to defer into a vacation!

Tuesday began with a school liturgical music rehearsal and then became a day of preparation for the following Sunday’s Masses.I spent two hours of the day at the nearby Guitar Centre placing an order for a digital recording studio and a new digital piano. After two hours I’d lost the will to live and even then they got the order wrong!

Wednesday began with the school Mass followed by a meeting regarding a wedding in October when I would also play piano for the cocktail hour. At lunchtime all the staff gathered to celebrate recent birthdays and to bid a fond farewell on the retirement of Sylvia our receptionist. Great Cuban food was provided and enjoyed! After a long day We had the first choir practice of the season. This went well after the despond around the funeral of Mgr Higgins.

I had decided to take Thursday as a day off in lieu of Monday’s Labor Day holiday. There was a funeral on Thursday at 10am and having played for that I visited the beach. After the hurricane the weather had not been conducive to spending time there and immediately after the storm the water was pretty dirty. So it was good to spend some time there today. Then I joined friends at Dagwood’s. It was the first time I’d been there and I was made to feel very welcome!

On Friday I was slow to rise but again visited the beach until the rain returned during the afternoon. Then, having realised that I had amassed 5 days extra over the NPM and Mgr’s Funeral I decided to book a week on the Atlantic coast. I found a beachside studio on Cocoa Beach and booked it.

Saturday was a tough day I had a funeral in the morning, a wedding in the evening and a Mass in between. I also managed to fit in some preparation of another funeral for Monday.I was very tired by the time we got to the wedding and was slightly irked by the huge array of cameras being brought into the church to record the wedding. I felt my blood pressure rising and regretted the fact that I had not taken any pills for a few days.

On Sunday having slept well I felt all the better and even prepared some pizza to keep me going. This was also in addition to the kindness in the form of a banana and a sandwich prepared by members of the choir. Today was the 15th commemoration of 9/11 and I feared anti-Islamic sentiment so I posted some thoughts to the choir seeking their compassion and prayer for the many Moslems who want nothing to do with terrorism. Fortunately the readings were also a cogent selection focussing on mercy. It was the first choir Sunday and as well as Paul Inwood’s Holy Year Hymn we sang ‘Did you know someone’s watching over you’ by Bernadette Farrell. During the afternoon I watched Chelsea draw with Swansea and then returned to work for the evening Mass. Monday’s funeral had some tricky music which was way outside my comfort zone. I refuse to sing soul music or even to sing karaoke because my voice sounds like a chorister’s and it doesn’t work. However I had agreed to sing and play two songs in what was always going to be a difficult funeral. A week ago a boyfriend and girlfriend had been driving in the wee hours and drove the car into a tree. Both were killed outright.

Monday should have been a day off but I chose to play for the funeral and got there in time to connect a relative’s ipod for the final music. Normally we would not allow pre-recorded music but  we made an exception in this traumatic situation but waited until the liturgy was over before starting the track. My soul singing went well and one of our sacristans asked if it was me or a recording (Bless her!). I pointed out that it was outside my comfort zone and she asserted that I should widen my zone!

Now it’s 2.30pm and the rain is falling once again so perhaps some washing and ironing is in order and later a visit to the bar, I suspect.

The arrangements for Mgr Higgins funeral continued beyond Friday and by Saturday (in between other funerals and a Vigil Mass) I had printed the Worship Aids for Monday’s Gathering around the body service which started the 2-day visitation, the Solemn Evening Prayer and all the music associated with these.

The weekend Masses went well and I was able to answer several requests to sing for the two funeral services I would be directing. I was in early on Monday although the first funeral liturgy did not start until noon when the body arrived. After the greeting of the body at the door they processed in to OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS, a setting I’d composed years ago for the Augustinians in UK. Mgr Higgins often quoted this text in his homilies so it seemed doubly appropriate. For the psalm we sang Christopher Walker’s THE LORD IS MY LIGHT. Only 120 folk were there to greet the body but it was raining and a workday for most.

I had a rehearsal later that evening so I stayed around working on all manner of projects.

On Tuesday I went into work late in the afternoon as Liturgical Music practice with the school had been cancelled. In the evening we had the Solemn Evening Prayer from the Office of the Dead. I had written this years ago for the funeral of Bishop Gerald Moverley so I was delighted that a former colleague at Sheffield had been able to scan me a version. There were almost 700 persons at this liturgy and it was a delight to hear how readily folk were able to join in the singing of unfamiliar material. Everyone was pleased which made me a very happy bunny so I retired eventually to the bar. At 1030pm my predecessor as Music Director rang me to invite me to sing at the following morning’s funeral Mass. There had been a series of email communications which had prompted misunderstandings so I was grateful that I was able to sort these. I had never heard my predecessor operate before so I was happy to assist.

The morning of the funeral his ‘schola’ sat down with my parish choir for what I thought would be a rehearsal of the music. Not a bit of it. For the first hour we listened as he sorted his organ registrations and then as he turned his attention to the choir it was to direct his schola in what was an unannounced programme of choral music with the odd Orpheus in the Underworld and Londonderry Air thrown in for good measure. The Mass started and I suppose it would be best for me to decline to comment on what followed.

The church was full but because the weather outside was appalling the two tents set up there served no purpose. In the Higgins Hall seating for 1100 was occupied by only 162 who attended Mass via huge video screens. The whole thing was televised so it would be a live stream that was was broadcast to the Hall.

After the Mass I delayed going to the reception as I wanted to see the cortege ofpolice motorcycles and cars leave for the cemetery. Four buses had already ferried hundreds of people to the graveside. Those who remained sat down to a great reception with food donated by good restaurants and providers.

By 5pm I was in my local bar enjoying a well-earned pint. The Pastor had closed the Office on Thursday in keeping with other closures throughout Tampa due to the imminent storm. I thought I would sort the renewal of my auto insurance. I knew this would be tricky as I had experienced two accidents and  some vandalism during the two years here. I was finding no one who would take me on but was fortunately referred to one agent who searched the market for a provider. She also discovered that there was was an erroneous report on my DMV history relating to the first accident. Once this had been rectified my insurability might increase. As it is she found found an insurer for $1367 for 6 months!

It rained much of the day but when I ventured out to the bar again the wind picked up considerably. The storm had been upgraded to a hurricane, the first in Florida for 11 years. I hunkered down at home and opened a bottle and closed the blinds lest debris smashed the windows. The winds and rain increased through the night but I was able to sleep in 2 hour bursts. I was happy to awake after 8am to discover that the only immediate damage for me was to my mosquito nets. I would need to repair these soon as the increased amount of standing water meant an increased risk of outbreaks of the zika virus.

It is now 1pm and I haven’t ventured out to see if my car has been damaged. I suspect that the major issue today will be the widespread flooding. The water table for Florida is understandably high but with 22 inches falling in 3 days there are distinct issues.

I will venture out shortly as I have problems with my new laptop and need to return it to the Geeks. Today is my usual day off but all our staff have been given the day off in respect of the extraordinary additional work caused by the funeral.After the technology visit I may have to drop into the bar!

 

After a good night’s sleep to displace the jetlag I went in early to work. I had a School Mass so I needed to gather my thoughts after a week in UK. Soon after arriving I learned that the Pastor Emeritus Msgr Laurence Higgins had died at 5.30am. He had been Pastor since 1958 until about 2007. He was known as the Bishop of Tampa for his massive popularity in most sectors of the city.

I chose to spend the day sorting things for the weekend. I realised that the psalm for Sunday I had set years ago in 2001 when the UK Augustinians had employed me to be liturgist for their Chapter meeting. It was an amazing meeting and one great encounter was with a Fr Seamus Ahearne OSA from Dublin whose unkempt appearance reminded me of Kevin Donovan SJ. When he spoke he was full of life and related stories of ‘his world’ among the Irish poor. I was so impressed by him that I wrote him a setting of the psalm for that weekend’s conference Mass, 22nd Sunday in Year C. I had not used it since as I had spent every Bank Holiday since then at the Greenbelt Festival as part of the Iona Community’s Wild Goose Worship Team. I wrote to Seamus and and it was great to get an enthusiastic reply.

During the day at a Press Conference about the death of Mgr Higgins I asked why, having been trained in Dublin he got his first placement in Tampa. The Bishop responded that he had been trained as a missionary and that Tampa really was missionary territory then!

The following day I started work on the music for the funeral. It had been clear from the outset that Mgr Higgins had agreed years ago that my predecessor would direct the music for the Funeral Mass. I had had to eat that kind of humble pie before so I was well versed in dealing with it. I did fear for the reaction of the Parish Choir who were also not past of the deceased plans. My first task was to write a letter to the choir. I got a passing colleague to check it before I sent it and his tears confirmed his assertion that it was fine. The Parish Choir and I still had to support the Gathering in the presence of the body at the start of the 2-day visitation and the Solemn Evening Prayer on the second evening. I also had to deal with two funerals before the weekend and a meeting to discuss a wedding in October. I spent the rest of the day assessing how much of the 1996 Evening Prayer of the Dead I had written for the Funeral of Bishop Moverley of Hallam could be re-used. Fortunately Hugh Finnegan, my old assistant, had sent this from Sheffield so I was able to produce a new edition from this.

By the end of the day I had both Presider and Assembly editions of the Order of Service and much of the music was re-typed for use. Throughout the day the staff were called together to brainstorm on the considerable logistics involved in a funeral with over 2000 attendees, camera crews, police, swat squads etc. None of this was particularly helpful to my creative juices!

The following day Friday should have been a day off but this funeral was never going to allow this. In addition I had another funeral at 1030am which was wonderful. It may have been the most honestly faith-filled eulogy I have ever heard. Prior to this I met with the Deacon to share where I had got to so far with the Evening Prayer and the Greeting of the Body. That brief meeting enabled me to get on with thing after the morning’s funeral. There has been a meeting with local Police for which food was provided and much left over so lunch for staff was provided!

At 1pm we had a meeting to update on arrangements for the funeral of Mgr Higgins. 2000 people would need to be watered (and later fed) and 500 transported to the cemetery. It is a real operation with massive offers of help coming in all the time. During the meeting the local baseball team offered to provide a reception for the most high-flying VIP guests. What a relief! I did find it odd that the musician for the Funeral Mass was not at the meeting but it seemed that he had not responded to messages!

The meeting paused for about 30 minutes in which I wrote a bit more music and then we resumed. We broke around 5.30pm and I was able to get back to designing the Order for the Greeting of the Body and to start the printing of the Evening Prayer.

My friends from St Marie’s Cathedral Sheffield may remember my ‘OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS’ which I composed to Augustine’s texts for the Augustinians Community in UK. The deceased Pastor often used to quote this text of Augustine so it seemed appropriate to use it as he is brought in to the church for visitation. we will also use Chris Walker’s THE LORD IS MY LIGHT.

I left work around 7pm and headed for a drink and later relaxed in front of the final episodes of West Wing.

Well it has been busy!

On Wednesday 17th I went in to play for the first School Mass of the Year and pretty soon after that headed for home. It was sunny and I did not have to leave for the airport until 4pm so a couple of hours in the sun were followed by packing.

The plane was on time so off we flew. I had been allocated an extra legroom seat which was a great surprise. However when I reached it I found it occupied by a large woman with a large baby. Once she had moved to the middle seat I sat down for what I hoped would be a sleepy trip. Every time I dropped off the baby kicked me awake again.

I reached Gatwick bleary-eyed and collected a hire car and drove to mum’s in New Malden. We talked for a couple of hours over real cups of tea and then I went to bed and she adopted the maternal attitude and ironed my shirts!

Once awake we drove in the direction of Guildford, returning only once to collect a handbag she had forgotten. We drove to meet brother Richard at the church where we played through his surprise piece and then booked into the hotel.

I was given room 48 but on arriving realised I had the key for room 49. I returned to the reception to rectify this and returned to access the room. It was one of those ‘can’t fling a cat in it’ rooms. I returned to the reception a third time and asked them to explain to me how this room might be considered a ‘double room for single occupancy’. Another apology and I was heading to room 50 which was altogether better.

Then I met up with my twin so we agreed to meet mum in the bar. She was already there when we arrived! Within a short while members of my immediate family had gathered outside and the drinks were flowing. There was a guy at a table near us who seemed to be exchanging knowing glances but we did not recognise him. When Richard and his fiancee Camille arrived they went straight to this man who had been joined by a very vivacious blonde. They were friends of his from Holland who had just arrived from Portugal and soon joined our party. We had a great meal outside and when the weather turned cool we moved inside for a lengthy night cap.

At breakfast we met with further guests then went to change for the wedding. Mum and I drove off early but got hopelessly lost due to a dodgy satnav .. or maybe it was mum’s finger which kept changing the destination. Anyhow after a tour of the local area and the not so local area we got to the church with 30 mins to spare.My panic was further enhanced when I realised that the officiating Abbot of Chilsworth was working off an early draft of the Order. I had a copy of the appropriate one so he was happy to follow that.

Back at the bride’s the make-up artist who had been working hard since 8am was enjoying things too much and getting stuck into her art. The result was that she was running late. In the event Camille was delayed 30 minutes and I had to improvise rather too much!

The Wedding Mass was wonderful and the Abbot did a great job. Richard and Camille looked fantastic and the singing was loud and responsive. I however found that the light on the organ gave off more heat than light and was sweating profusely. I would need to change my white shirt when I got back to the hotel.

The reception was fantastic. i found myself on a table with people from Brazil (Camille’s birthplace), Spain, France, Portugal, and America (me). I loved it! The speeches were rich and certainly, in the case of Camille’s father, extremely emotional. They had asked Richard’s brothers and friends to speak an anecdote so I told of the gap between his teeth!

The evening session either revolved around the bar or the main room. A live band played as gusts rose to sing the vocals. It was a kind of upmarket karaoke and it worked well. I was particularly impressed by Glen’s break-dancing culminating in a series of headspins. Not bad for a septuagenarian!

I was in the bar enjoying catching up with family and new friends. At 1.30am there remained only Richard and Camille, myself and my twin Andy. I took Andy for a coffee in my boudoir and we chatted until 3.3am when I had to sleep.

Breakfast brought us all together again the next morning and there was a series of slow departures. The East End Jakobs were planning a walk so Andy, Mum and I joined this and it was just wonderful to connect again with them.

Around the corner from the hotel was Wonersh Seminary which I had never visited so we did and found a be-shorted man welcoming us. He turn ed out to be the newly appointed Rector in vacation mode. He took the trouble to show us around and exuded real hospitality. Later I heard that he had been a Benedictine and it kind of made sense.

Back home in New Malden I explored the high street and then joined mum for a snack. we were really tired. The following day, Sunday, we went to a Mass at Richard and Camille’s parish, the Abbey of Chilsworth. We got there ahead of time and were able to pass on instructions from the Abbot as to where R & C should stand for the Blessing at the end of Mass.

The organist was very good indeed and the monks lead the plainchant. Behind me in the benches was Chris Olding. He had been a student in Sheffield and had joined the Cathedral Choir. He had once claimed to be rather more than this and I suspect he was embarrassed at being caught out! We were both surprised to see each other . After Mass we went for coffee and chatted. I was invited to the organ loft where I discovered that the organ was a Lewis from around 1910.

We adjourned for a final meal with our new Brazilian family, Richard and my mum. It was a very English roast dinner. Mum and I drove back to New Malden and parked for a while before going out to meet up with Chris and Sue. Mum was really tired and left me to it. The wine flowed and the fish was grilled! Once I got home I found mum still up and we did the traditional Jakob thing and chatted through the night.

On Monday we both rose late. I had some business to do regarding my mortgage and then took mum out for a French meal in kingston. After this we visited some mobile phone places as mum wished to replace her 12 year old brick. It would have to wait until Pete’s next visit for the deal to be clinched!

I met up with Chris again in the local pub for a couple of pints and then returned home for a snack and a chat.

On the Tuesday I left mum for Gatwick and a much better return journey. I had soem problems with contacting Uber initially but this resolved and I extended the trip beyind my apartment to my bar where friends greeted me and I grabbed a snack and a drink.

Soon after returning home I was asleep. I had work the next day.