It’s been two weeks since my last report and while UK basks in the hottest summer for years we in Florida have high temps but so much rain. This means that we are treated daily to wonderful lightning displays.

At work we are in the final weeks with Mgr Mike Muhr as our pastor. He took some vacation days so we don’t expect to see much of him during even his final week. Instead we were delighted to welcome our Pastor designate who visited for a few days before taking a vacation himself. When he formally arrives on 15 August he will hit the ground running so he is probably spending most time sorting things in his rectory and office.

On Wednesday August 1 I made an early morning trip to the Tax Office to renew my driving licence. I have had to do this every year since I’ve been here but this year since I have a Green Card now I was in and out in an hour with a licence which does not need to be renewed for eight years.

 

The following weekend was notable for the Sunday 7pm Mass. An experienced cantor was on vacation so a singer who joined us only a couple of weeks ago served as cantor. In addition we had a new guitarist and another new singer.

On Monday 6 August I awoke with some trepidation as my ‘day off’ was being given up for the parish staff retreat. These have normally been terrible wastes of time with silly games purporting to be aimed at team building. I recognised our speaker instantly as a parishioner. Dr Carmen had recently retired from being a school principal. She has also written several books on spirituality. Her contribution was well prepared and thought-provoking. We ended the day with Mass in the Bethany Center Chapel. I had planned the music but it was great to be joined by two colleagues when it came to the music making.

As soon as the retreat was over I sped off to the office to do final preparations for the evening rehearsal for our bilingual celebration of the patronal feast of St Lawrence. The rehearsal went very well and I let the combined Hispanic and English choirs go early!

On Tuesday 7 August I welcomed to the house 4 workers who would fell 5 trees on my property. I am no tree-hugger but I am usually reluctant to remove trees. In this case one was losing limbs another had lost one through my roof during Irma and all were deemed by inspectors to be well past their maturity and were described as crap trees!.  By the end of Day 1 all the trees in the back yard had had their branches removed. By sheer coincidence my neighbours opposite had also engaged a different company to trim the oak in their front yard. The street was like ‘tree-central’ for two hours! After a while I left for work on Tuesday and finished the day with a visit to the new Jesuit Chapel to give an organ lesson to a student who would be playing for the Dedication Mass later that evening. During Day 2 the remaining trunks and another tree in the front were removed and stumps ground. The grass in the back yard now looks as though it has been the site of a tank battle with treadmarks cutting where the grass used to be but it will recover, I’m sure.  During Day 2 I spent the day at the beach as it was a very sunny day.

Today I will enjoy doing a bit of a tidy up in the back yard before giving two students their organ lessons at the new chapel of Jesuit. After this I’ll venture into the office to do some final prep for a Spanish funeral tonight and the Mass for the start of another school year tomorrow.

 

Today is the first day off in a while so I have a chance to update the blog.

The last weekend of June preceded July 4 which over here is celebrated with some zeal. It’s a celebration of independence from British rule. I always view this (humourously) as Traitors’ Day the day when the ungrateful colonials established themselves. Having said this I don’t buy into the culture that we Brits discovered America (as the 2nd verse of ‘America the beautiful’ would have us believe). I mention this hymn because it was the chosen final song for the weekend’s Masses. Before the 4pm vigil Mass I even asked the congregation how many verses they wished to sing. When it came to it most left before the end of verse 1. The next day I was shown that this first Mass response was not representative as folk sang with great gusto!

The rainy season has well and truly begun. On the positive side the grass will grow and make my garden appear cared for. On the negative side the air around the church organ will be so pungent as to make folk wonder about my personal hygiene. Tampa is basically a drained swamp and when it rains the water level rises and the organ which is located in a pit is lower than anywhere else in the church and whatever has died immediately beneath it gives off a pervasive aroma!

The additional rain also means that I have to drain the swimming pool as its level also rises. I had spent some hours drifting around pool supply and homecare stores looking for a replacement pipe through which to drain the pool. The one I have is punctured at the business end. In the process I was struck by a brainwave and returned home to disconnect the hose and replace it with the other end. Result!

The trees in my garden had already worried me after Irma but when another large limb crashed to the ground between my house and a neighbor’s I had to do something. I have booked a specialist to bring down a few trees which are dangerously leaning towards the house or have already caused damage. Before any work can proceed I have to apply for permits from the local authority. I should know what I can do by the start of August.

Mention of local authority reminds me that Sheffield City Council contacted my letting agents to inform me that I owed them about 400 pounds for unpaid council tax this year. I wrote to them as did my agents and they have agreed that an error has occurred. This is just as well for a week later I received another request for 1700 pounds!

I spent many of my waking hours watching the World Cup. England did rather well to reach the semi finals with such a young team. Many of the matches I had to record so that I could watch them after work. Some friends took great delight in advising me of the score before I got home. Hmmm.

The saga over the house repairs after Irma continues. The skirting boards were eventually completed but not satisfactorily. The contractor visited and agreed with my assessment and asked the carpenter to redo some of the work around the kitchen island. Despite all the promises further delays were experienced. I would be in Baltimore for a week at the meeting of Pastoral Musicians. Perhaps things would have advanced after that?

The NPM Convention was good in parts but poor in others. Tony Alonso and Jaime Cortez both provided separate examples of good practice and further challenges relating to multilingual liturgies. Marty Haugen had created a new Mass setting which, he dreamed, might be sung (both languages simultaneously) in bilingual parishes. It was a great pity that James Martin SJ had had to cancel his plenary because the other plenaries didn’t really get me excited apart from one on the eucharist and another on youth. I had arrived a day early to be part of the panel looking at compositions submitted to the Composers’ Forum. The panel was very positive and there were good vibes among participants. However I attended a seminar on composers’ tool-kits during the final day which seemed barely prepared at all.

I was bowled over by one concert at the cathedral and particularly by the Salve Regina Mass of Yves Castagnet, whom I had worked alongside during my time in Paris years ago.

Socially the NPM was good. I spent much time in the company of Paul Inwood, Kathy Leos, Christopher Walker and John McCarthy who had popped over from UK. Baltimore was a wonderful city for food and famous for its seafood. It was great to meet up with Phil Stackhouse from St John’s Ellicott City with which parish I have had a relationship starting on Iona and maintained since.

I returned from Baltimore anxious to see what advances had taken place with the repairs. The skirting boards had now been completed to my satisfaction and new gutters had been installed for all roof aspects. Now I just had to await the french doors!

On Friday 20 July I was joined by 5 work colleagues as we christened my paella dish with a paella according to Jamie’s recipe. It was a great meal!

The weekend at St Lawrence was notable for working with a new bassist. Once we’d sorted the music for him his talents were plain to hear. It was also good to introduce to the assembly a new singer who led us in Audrey Assad’s ‘I shall not want’.

It’s countdown time before our Pastor Fr (mgr) Mike leaves us on 12 August. He is moving to become the priest-elected ‘priest for the priests’. It’s a new diocesan job and he will be great at this. It really has been a creative time for me working with him. I will miss his homilies but more than that his fully human presence. It is wonderful to meet people who know themselves and are content with what they know! Our new pastor arrives on 15 August so there’s not long to wait.

Just in case some of you did not get last month’s installment (I had problems posting this on facebook) here it is again with June added!

As I type it is over 5 weeks since workmen put the new porcelain tile floor in the house. After so many promises to finish the work they arrived this morning at 10am and I was able to get home at 2pm to see their work. They had not done much because the compressor for their nail machine had broken. Their boss authorised them to get a replacement and now at 3pm they are back to work.

So what else has happened since my last post? Work was more or less the same except that on Friday 18 we had the School graduations. This year some of the departing students offered themselves as instrumentalists. They’d hidden their lights before and now on their last appearance they wanted to play! So I did an arrangement of ‘Lord, I need you’ for the unlikely combination of piano with trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet, violin and percussion. No graduation is complete, it seems, without an excerpt from Elgar’s Pomp & Circumstance March. Normally musicians play only the Land of Hope and glory theme several times over as the graduands arrive in procession. This twit decided to play the entire thing … including the tricky bits! I’d worked on it last year and realised how amazing muscle memory can be!

On Saturday 19th the Royal Wedding was a must watch as was also the FA Cup final which followed it. I’ve supported Chelsea since I was 9 so it was good to see them walk away from a somewhat depressing season with some silverware.

In the evening I played the vigil Mass and then relaxed before the onslaught which is Sunday.  It was Pentecost Sunday so the choir sang Oomen’s ‘I shall be living’ and the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ by Handel. They certainly rose to the challenge as did the members of the congregation who stayed to join in the song.

The following week followed the usual pattern with the last school Mass of the academic year. We would not see the cherubs for another 2 1/2 months!

On Monday 21 was Memorial Day and a public holiday. The whole weekend had been miserable with torrential downpours blotting all hopes of fine weather. It had been like this for 10 days.  In the late afternoon I managed to catch my twin brother Andy by phone to wish him a happy birthday. He was surprised to hear from me, I think! The following day my arrival in the office was greeted by the decorations all of which suggesting the fact that it was my 60th birthday too! My day was spent working and then I went for a meal with my music colleague, Marty. Later I quaffed a few beers. My brother Richard and his wife had suggested a record some interesting moment for every year of my life so far. I rose to the challenge and with the single exception of one year I have it all done. This will be appearing soon no doubt. During the day I had received a request to use my setting of Psalm 46 for the Diocesan 50th anniversary Mass on 16 June. Since I would be away for part of June it was essential to get down to work sooner rather than later. An arrangement for string quartet and flute in addition to the organ was required. Just as life was beginning to calm down a bit up sprung a serious challenge!

I spent much of Friday enjoying my day off at the house before going in for a wedding. After this I dropped in to O’Brien’s where I enjoyed a few glasses. There was a lady there who had the most strident voice which cut through all the noise the people in the bar could create.

The Memorial weekend weather was terrible as tropical storm Albert wreaked its vengeance on Florida.

On Sunday 27 the choir excelled themselves with a fine rendering of ‘The Deer’s Cry’. The choir provided the backing vocals to Vivian Padron’s solo.

On my day off on Monday I waited for workmen to arrive to do the baseboards (skirting boards). They didn’t show. well, who would work on a national holiday? They would come the following day.  But they didn’t show then either.

On Tuesday I paid my first visit to the cinema to see ‘Pope Francis – a Man of his Word’. What a powerful docu-film this is! I was also delighted to be one of only four people in the theatre and to be offered a seniors discount now that I am over 60!

On Wednesday I awoke to learn that the Diocesan Director of Music had mistakedly asked me to use my setting of Psalm 46 for an anniversary Mass. He had forgotten that they’d already selected Psalm 98. So hopes dashed somewhat I worked during the morning and then came home for a bit before returning later for the choir practice. It was the last of the season so we did some reminiscing once we’d learned Frisina’s ‘Anima Christi’ in my own arrangement.

On Thursday on my way into work something hit my car windshield and so I had to seek out a repair. It turned out to be beyond repair so I fixed an appointment for the glass to be replaced on 11 June. My phone has an app which allows me to monitor my security alarm at the house. I was pleased to find that workmen were in my house. However when I got home at 2pm I discovered them doing nothing … their compressor for the nail gun had broken. After contacting management they got permission to find a replacement. They expect to get it all done today and will return to repair the hole in the ceiling tomorrow. I’m not counting any chickens!

Well they didn’t return the next day and the hole in the ceiling was not fixed until 28 June! In a way I was grateful as I had friends coming on the Friday. I had met Helen and Mike on a beach in Goa years ago and we had kept in touch with each other. I had stayed in some of their properties in the Canaries and in Spain. But before they arrived I had to get some blood tests done. Soon after they had settled we went to Ybor City. I had never been there but it was a beautiful historical part of town. Really it was one street of bars and restaurants very reminiscent of Bar Street in New Orleans. We ubered there and back and returned for a few adult beverages before sleep. I had work the next two days but they amused themselves exploring the area.

On Monday 4 June we parted company as they moved to another B&B they had booked and I went on a 3 day break to Orlando. I had got a deal from Hilton Hotels which gave me good accomodation at a fraction of the price. I didn’t do much in the hotel except sleep but travelled to the East Coast to enjoy the beach with Atlantic rollers thrown in. We don’t experience these on the calm bay coast.

All too soon I was back in Tampa. I had a wedding to play for on the Friday and the usual weekend business followed. The builders had been on Monday and had installed the skirting boards and woodwork to most of the ground floor. However they had ‘forgotten’ to look inside one closet! Still the hole in the ceiling remained open.

On the Monday I had a doctor’s appointment after which he increased my blood pressure medication. Later that afternoon I had my car window replaced.

The main event of the week was the choir party on Friday 15 June. I had turned 60 about 3 weeks earlier and the choir wanted to celebrate this as well as get together. It was also good to be able to invite the pastor, Fr Mike. Due to start at 7pm the advance party arrived at 6.30pm and I went upstairs to change and shower. When I came down there were about 40 people in my house and all the food was laid out and organised. It was amazing. I just provided the wine and very few people were drinking! Most were gone by 10.30pm but not before they had divided up the leftovers, washed up and returned my place to its unusually tidy state! A couple remained to quaff a few whiskies!

On the following morning as I awoke a crown popped off one of my teeth! I’d have to wait to get it fixed but it was causing no pain at all.

I had been trying to get a group of guitarists together for the 7pm Mass. On Wednesday June 20 I met with two of them. Both were experienced but one felt less confident. Unfortunately a week later the less confident one withdrew. I hope he will return when things settle for him.

On Thursday 21 June the local Jesuit School sent me next year’s scholarship student. He played two pieces really well on the piano so I accepted him. I continue to teach last year’s student until August.

On Friday 22 June many of my staff colleagues met at a Hibachi restaurant to say farewell to Jean-Claude. Jean-Claude was a seminarian from Malta who had spent 4 months with us and was entering a 30-day retreat before returning to Malta. I had enjoyed a very informative chat with him earlier in the day as we exchanged notes on the American Catholic church!

Monday 25 June was a wonderful day and then the heavens opened in the evening with a massive lightning attack. It was all over in 10 minutes but there was considerable flooding. This is the pattern of weather at this time of year.

On Tuesday a friend in UK completed her walk from the southernmost tip of England to the northernmost of Scotland. It was a massive achievement lasting 88 days. As befits one whose family name is Walker she decided to walk a further day to John O’Groats which some erroneously believe to be the northernmost point.

On Thursday 28 June I awoke to news from UK that I was to be summonsed to appear in court for non-payment of Council Tax of 370 pounds. This news came from my lettings agents. She was confused too as I should not have to pay Council Tax at all as I am not resident there. Anyhow we both sent letters to Sheffield Council in the hope that the matter will be resolved appropriately and the bailiffs could be called off!

At work the organ engineer arrived with a replacement circuit board for the instrument. After a lightning strike several months ago we lost the use of the organ pipes. The digital remained fine. The installation was successful and it was good for my organ students to hear the organ as it was intended.

Friday 29 June is a day off and I slept in for a bit before shopping for bbq gas and various bits and bobs. When, in the afternoon, I popped into the garden I was amazed to see that another large branch had fallen from a tree. Most had landed in a neighbour’s garden and they are away at the moment. I think the time has come to have the trees felled. There was no wind last night so clearly that tree is just unsafe.

It has just started raining so perhaps I will delay grilling a steak until the morrow.

As I type it is over 5 weeks since workmen put the new porcelain tile floor in the house. After so many promises to finish the work they arrived this morning at 10am and I was able to get home at 2pm to see their work. They had not done much because the compressor for their nail machine had broken. Their boss authorised them to get a replacement and now at 3pm they are back to work.

So what else has happened since my last post? Work was more or less the same except that on Friday 18 we had the School graduations. This year some of the departing students offered themselves as instrumentalists. They’d hidden their lights before and now on their last appearance they wanted to play! So I did an arrangement of ‘Lord, I need you’ for the unlikely combination of piano with trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet, violin and percussion. No graduation is complete, it seems, without an excerpt from Elgar’s Pomp & Circumstance March. Normally musicians play only the Land of Hope and glory theme several times over as the graduands arrive in procession. This twit decided to play the entire thing … including the tricky bits! I’d worked on it last year and realised how amazing muscle memory can be!

On Saturday 19th the Royal Wedding was a must watch as was also the FA Cup final which followed it. I’ve supported Chelsea since I was 9 so it was good to see them walk away from a somewhat depressing season with some silverware.

In the evening I played the vigil Mass and then relaxed before the onslaught which is Sunday.  It was Pentecost Sunday so the choir sang Oomen’s ‘I shall be living’ and the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ by Handel. They certainly rose to the challenge as did the members of the congregation who stayed to join in the song.

The following week followed the usual pattern with the last school Mass of the academic year. We would not see the cherubs for another 2 1/2 months!

On Monday 21 was Memorial Day and a public holiday. The whole weekend had been miserable with torrential downpours blotting all hopes of fine weather. It had been like this for 10 days.  In the late afternoon I managed to catch my twin brother Andy by phone to wish him a happy birthday. He was surprised to hear from me, I think! The following day my arrival in the office was greeted by the decorations all of which suggesting the fact that it was my 60th birthday too! My day was spent working and then I went for a meal with my music colleague, Marty. Later I quaffed a few beers. My brother Richard and his wife had suggested a record some interesting moment for every year of my life so far. I rose to the challenge and with the single exception of one year I have it all done. This will be appearing soon no doubt. During the day I had received a request to use my setting of Psalm 46 for the Diocesan 50th anniversary Mass on 16 June. Since I would be away for part of June it was essential to get down to work sooner rather than later. An arrangement for string quartet and flute in addition to the organ was required. Just as life was beginning to calm down a bit up sprung a serious challenge!

I spent much of Friday enjoying my day off at the house before going in for a wedding. After this I dropped in to O’Brien’s where I enjoyed a few glasses. There was a lady there who had the most strident voice which cut through all the noise the people in the bar could create.

The Memorial weekend weather was terrible as tropical storm Albert wreaked its vengeance on Florida.

On Sunday 27 the choir excelled themselves with a fine rendering of ‘The Deer’s Cry’. The choir provided the backing vocals to Vivian Padron’s solo.

On my day off on Monday I waited for workmen to arrive to do the baseboards (skirting boards). They didn’t show. well, who would work on a national holiday? They would come the following day.  But they didn’t show then either.

On Tuesday I paid my first visit to the cinema to see ‘Pope Francis – a Man of his Word’. What a powerful docu-film this is! I was also delighted to be one of only four people in the theatre and to be offered a seniors discount now that I am over 60!

On Wednesday I awoke to learn that the Diocesan Director of Music had mistakedly asked me to use my setting of Psalm 46 for an anniversary Mass. He had forgotten that they’d already selected Psalm 98. So hopes dashed somewhat I worked during the morning and then came home for a bit before returning later for the choir practice. It was the last of the season so we did some reminiscing once we’d learned Frisina’s ‘Anima Christi’ in my own arrangement.

On Thursday on my way into work something hit my car windshield and so I had to seek out a repair. It turned out to be beyond repair so I fixed an appointment for the glass to be replaced on 11 June. My phone has an app which allows me to monitor my security alarm at the house. I was pleased to find that workmen were in my house. However when I got home at 2pm I discovered them doing nothing … their compressor for the nail gun had broken. After contacting management they got permission to find a replacement. They expect to get it all done today and will return to repair the hole in the ceiling tomorrow. I’m not counting any chickens!

 

 

The last week has been one of friendship, great weather and storms, family illness and work. But let me begin with the solar panels.

I got contacted by the finance people regarding the panels and, surprise surprise, the deal was not quite what I had been led to believe. There were hidden interest payments amounting to $5k which dissuaded me. They are still contacting me to try to secure the deal since in principle I am in favour but I have since also decided that it might be better to leave some money in the account for those unexpected events … like the next round of hurricanes!

I worked long hours on Tuesday, completing an arrangement for the weirdest group of instruments only a school can provide! Wednesday was as usual except there was another funeral and Ross would be returning from his trip around the south of Florida. I had taken Thursday and Friday off work so as to be present to my guest. The house that welcomed him was the same as he left a week earlier as the builders had not returned to complete the post-Irma works.

We barbecued some meat and tried a few beers before sleep arrived. The following morning I had a dentist appointment for routine cleaning. Ross waited in the car and then we drove to Anna Maria Island which he had wanted to visit. After a brief stop for coffee at the Bradenton end  we headed for the beach close to the Sand Bar restaurant where I had taken my brother Chris and family in July. We decided to walk along the beach until finding a nice spot to relax. After a while we continued on and stumbled upon a pier with a tiny bar in which the entire world seemed to be gathered. On closer inspection they were mostly English and so we fitted in just fine. The prices were good so I had a few as Ross was driving and then we returned to the car walking back along the beach. It was quite late by the time we got back to Tampa so we headed home for more barbecue and beer.

I needed to get my car serviced and a couple of slow punctures repaired so it seemed opportune to get it done while we had two cars available. Having dropped off my car we visited Goodwill (of course) and then stopped for breakfast at a very popular cafe and later when the garage called we went to collect the car. At some stage in the day we moved furniture around in the house. We would spend the rest of Friday around the pool. Beer started at 2pm, wine at 6pm and whiskey … I can’t recall!

I had to be in work early on Saturday and Ross wanted to go shopping in Orlando prior to his evening departure so we both left the house taking our hangovers in different directions. I had two ‘First Communion’ Masses for about 90 children. Then I had the usual Vigil Mass and went home …. to sleep!

Sunday went well and I was back home by 2pm. It was Mother’s Day in USA so my thoughts went to my own mum (not mom!). As I was returning home I’d received a message from my brother Pete advising me that his wife had had a TIA a few days earlier and that things seemed to be resolving themselves. Inevitably he was busy when I rang so I rang mum and spoke with her. Later, as I watched Chelsea being thrashed by Newcastle, I face-timed my brother Chris and we chatted a while, reassuring each other. He also mentioned that mum had had a bit of a ‘turn’ during the week, but of course she had not mentioned this when I rang her!

I awoke this morning and it was raining. It rained all day apart from an hour around 2pm. I have pottered around the whole day doing not a lot very purposefully!

 

I’M EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH CONNECTING TO FACEBOOK SO IF YOU’VE ALREADY SEEN THIS ON WORDPRESS THEN PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY THE ENTRIES FOR THE FINAL WEEKEND ARE DIFFERENT.

It’s been busy this last month and only now do I have the opportunity to keep you up to date!

The principal themes have been house repairs, vacation, work, John Bell and Ross Loveridge, the combination of which is enough to drive anyone to distraction.

18 months ago I answered a call offering me a cheap taster cruise to the Bahamas. Then they offered me the chance to stay on the island. Before I knew it I’d spent quite a lot of money which might have been more economic had I taken someone with me.

The week before the vacation, as always, was a week from hell in that I did too much work in order to cover my absence. In addition there were more funerals coming in at the last minute. Once my work was done at 8.30pm on Sunday 15 April I was in holiday mood. So having packed a few things and slept a few hours I set off at 4am intent on reaching Fort Lauderdale on the East coast where I had to register my arrival at a crappy hotel before being sent to another very good hotel.

I decided instead to take advantage of the sunny day and hit the beach. It was not until 7pm that I checked in. Earlier I had been given vouchers which discounted meals for two. Had I been a couple and been lodged at the crappy hotel the discounts might have covered the meal costs. In the event the better hotel offered great food and comfort so I threw caution to the wind and went for it. The staff were great and recognising the issue discounted the meals as if I were two!

There was a conference going on and the delegates were all experts in candle-making or related retail. I have always thought that I could talk the hind legs off a donkey on any subject but this was a bit of a challenge. One of my Iona friends remarked in a facebook post ‘but I thought you were catholic?’ but I’m not that type of catholic I mused. On my father’s side I am related to a long line of candle makers in Wurxburg but I chose not to share this. Instead I found myself trying to explain the Four candles/fork handles joke only to realise that american humour is different and these guys were seriously into candles. Bed became very attractive.

The following morning I had a two hour timeshare interview which I had not anticipated and which ended up at 4 hours. It started with a plenary presentation which started 50 minutes late and was preceded by having to watch my host eat her breakfast. After this ordeal I sped for the beach which was 30 mins away. I stayed late to avoid traffic and returned to quaff wine and enjoy a meal at the hotel.

The following morning I checked out early and drove towards West Palm Beach from where the ship would sail at 5pm. I had done my research and found another beach in a State Park only 10 mins from the port. I stayed until 3.30pm and then checked my car into valet parking and, having caused some consternation by my combination of UK passport and Green Card, I boarded.

The ship was tired but not as tired as the entertainment and food. My cabin was OK but only had a tiny porthole from which to espy the seas. The whole experience was a ‘nickel and dime’ one. I had a bucket of beers, chose to eat in the posh restaurant where I was seated with a delightful family of four who had not expected to share a table. The waiter came and took their orders. After a while I asked why he did not take my order. He told me that they like to serve the children first. My explanation that these delightful children were not mine only served to confuse him so I went with the flow and the family were amused. They were having the same experience as I was in terms of feeling sucked into the whole thing.

Grand Bahama Island is only 70 miles off the coast of Florida. The journey could have been achieved in under three hours but this would not have enabled the company to extract enough money from innocent punters so the journey lasted 15 hours!

On board I had arranged transport to the hotel and a genial native filled the 50 minute drive with amusing information. about the island’s trees, history, sex drive and the Brits. On arrival at the ‘all inclusive’ hotel we joined one of three long queues to register. It was 10am and the rooms would only be available at 3.30pm. My queue was served by a novice who had to keep seeking advice of her supervisor. Eventually I reach the point at which I was being served. They knew nothing about me and had no documents for me. She then disappeared to the main office and was gone for a while . The queue behind me was getting agitated so, in the way I can, I summoned the supervisor, who confirmed her high office but refused to serve the folk behind me.

Eventually I was given some paperwork so that I could return later to access my room. In fear of more queues I decided to leave my bags and walk the beach access the room much later. It turned out to be a garden view whereas I had been promised an ocean view. It didn’t worry me too much but there are principles!

The meals were all buffet style and three were available each day. I opted for two. My choice to drink only after 6pm was not one shared by others. When I returned from the beach on that first evening the hotel was littered with folk who had drunk too much in the sun and were now sleeping the sleep of Odin!

I met a delightful Swiss couple and having overheard them speaking French I ventured some French myself. The wife, who spoke English very well, was delighted since her husband only spoke French and had only his wife to speak to! I mused that this is why God invented work … to keep couples separate for some hours each day and thus give the marriage a better chance of survival! I met them several times over the time I was there and it was a joy to share their interesting and cultured conversation. I met some other folk who marriages seemed destined for the rocks unless the husband refrained from starting his drinking at 10am.

I was on the Bahamas for 3 days and 2 nights. I enjoyed the beach and some of the company and was ready to board ship again. It was more of the same and I paid for the Adult Comedy Show which I regret since it was more pre-pubescent slapstick.

It was Sunday morning when I reach the mainland and immigration took its usual long while before I was reunited with my car. The weather was turning so I chose to drive straight home and four hours later around 1pm I was home.

While I was away I had arranged for the builders to lay a porcelain tile floor. There was dust everywhere but it was a good job. They had had to removed the baseboards in the process and these would be replaced by new ones. All the furniture was arranged in the middle of each room so I’d hoped this would happen sooner rather than later.

I had Monday off and chose to work Tuesday. I did my usual School Mass and choir practice on Wednesday. During the day it was formally announced that our pastor Fr Mike Muhr would be leaving to take up a new job as a priest for the priests of the diocese. and had We thank God for the three years we have had with him. After the choir practice I had to kill some time before collecting John Bell from the airport at 11pm. One of the choir invited me to pass the time with him at a wine bar so I obliged willingly. At the airport I checked the arrivals and found one that seemed appropriate. John had not told me on which airline he would arrive so I had to guess. I guessed wrong and found myself driving around in circles for an hour until security stopped me. They then paged him and he moved from where he had been waiting. He was disgruntled about this wait but hey ho … I love driving around in circles.

Back at my placed it was about 00.30am and we chatted over several whiskies till about 3.30am. The following morning I took him to visit the venue where he would be giving an evening on Monday and then drove him to the rendezvous where in the manner of prisoner/espionage exchanges I passed him onto the Episcopalians whom he had agreed to entertain for the next few days.

I returned to work the rest of the day and finished the evening at my old bar where I was able to borrow a trolley. I had arranged to buy a washer and a dryer unit from a neighbour and needed something to move them to the house.

On Friday I relaxed by the pool. Later that evening Ross Loveridge arrived from Scotland via Orlando. He would spend a few days with me before leaving to explore the south of Florida on Wednesday. During the day it was further announced that our new pastor would be Fr Dan Kayagan.

I had to work on Saturday so I left Ross to relax and returned in the early evening. We ventured to two bars and then to the Ghenghis Grill for a take away meal. The receptionist had clearly been hitting the alcohol and since these restaurants have become familiar to so many … but not us, found it difficult to explain what to do!

On Sunday I was working as ever but so that I could be hospitable to John Bell who was returning during the afternoon I was able to find a cover musician for the evening Mass. We spent the afternoon by the pool and then christened the bbq and started on the cocktails. I have never made cocktails and took direction from John. the results were unusual and strong.

On Monday after breakfast we went to Honeymoon Island just past Dunedin which is my usual kayak spot. We walked the beach until we found a spot to stop. Later I continued to the end of the beach but got some thorns in my feet in the process! We returned home for a wash and brush up before venturing to the Higgins Hall on my church site where the event would be. It was attended by over 100 people and was in aid of Trinity Cafe which provides 360 hot meals each day to the homeless. I treated my guests to a meal at Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and then we returned to my place for a drink or two.

The following day I went into work early and Ross took John to the airport and then pottered about for the day. When he returned I was meeting with a gent about solar panels in which I was interested. This done we powered up the bbq and enjoyed t-bone steaks with broccoli I had purloined from a funeral reception earlier that day.

On Wednesday I did my usual stuff and Ross set off on the next stage of his adventures driving south to explore the Everglades. Once past Miami he would enjoy one of the greatest drives in the world to Key west via the ‘7-mile bridge’.

Happily, because I had completed many hours work already I was able to go into work later. I spoke at length at a pastoral team meeting on matters arising from the visit of John Bell. Then after giving an organ lesson I joined friends at Charann’s Tavern and went home.

I had forgotten about a meeting at the house with someone about pest control but since I had not left already he caught me in time. Florida bugs are a real problem here and since the baseboards are off the ground floor at the moment it seemed a good time to get the place treated. They would also treat the outside for termites and all manner of nasty biting critters. I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the sun with temps in the low 90sF.

At the end of the day with another friend from The Local bar we went ‘on safari’ in search of Darcee who had been barred from The Local some weeks ago. We found her at the second stop and she was really touched that we had taken the trouble to find her. It seemed the perfect end to a brilliant day!

On Saturday I went into work a bit later than I’d intended and therefore stayed a while later. I managed to get several projects completed and sort priorities for the week ahead. Sunday was as normal except that I felt energised and introduced some new repertoire as planned. People responded positively. My Pastor in his homily referred to Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto so in the reflection before he got to the Creed I played some recognisable moments from the concerto. The evening Mass was great. I’d had a bit of a rest and returned to work knowing that the house was tidier and the third bedroom restored to being my office! I still had energy so I stayed a little longer to join the youth group for the first time. They were exploring the catechism under the categories of sexuality, immigration and work. It was a great evening and I returned home feeling good.

On Monday (day off) I started by doing a huge wash of sheets etc and then started ironing a pile of washing I’d done over a week ago. I set up my equipment outside so the chore of ironing seemed more pleasant. Yesterday I’d heard from a friend in Spain that her partner of several years had broken his neck in the waves of Sri Lanka. That was in February and it was great to speak with them and catch up. It turns out that they may visit Florida soon so there is a chance of a meet up.

Later in the afternoon I had my house and garden sprayed for pests and bugs. This was quite a lengthy process but I hope it works. This will be the first summer in my new house so I’m hoping it will be pleasant.

I visited the doctor and discovered that although they were happy about my weight loss they were still concerned about my blood pressure. I also had to admit that I had misread the instructions on some of the pills I’d been prescribed! Next month should show some improvements!

In the evening I had a second meeting with the solar panel guys. Three and a half hours later I signed the deal for solar panels and air-conditioning units. I am hoping that this will impact both my electricity bill and my carbon footprint.

 

It’s been busy this last month and only now do I have the opportunity to keep you up to date!

The principal themes have been house repairs, vacation, work, John Bell and Ross Loveridge, the combination of which is enough to drive anyone to distraction.

18 months ago I answered a call offering me a cheap taster cruise to the Bahamas. Then they offered me the chance to stay on the island. Before I knew it I’d spent quite a lot of money which might have been more economic had I taken someone with me.

The week before the vacation, as always, was a week from hell in that I did too much work in order to cover my absence. In addition there were more funerals coming in at the last minute. Once my work was done at 8.30pm on Sunday 15 April I was in holiday mood. So having packed a few things and slept a few hours I set off at 4am intent on reaching Fort Lauderdale on the East coast where I had to register my arrival at a crappy hotel before being sent to another very good hotel.

I decided instead to take advantage of the sunny day and hit the beach. It was not until 7pm that I checked in. Earlier I had been given vouchers which discounted meals for two. Had I been a couple and been lodged at the crappy hotel the discounts might have covered the meal costs. In the event the better hotel offered great food and comfort so I threw caution to the wind and went for it. The staff were great and recognising the issue discounted the meals as if I were two!

There was a conference going on and the delegates were all experts in candle-making or related retail. I have always thought that I could talk the hind legs off a donkey on any subject but this was a bit of a challenge. One of my Iona friends remarked in a facebook post ‘but I thought you were catholic?’ but I’m not that type of catholic I mused. On my father’s side I am related to a long line of candle makers in Wurxburg but I chose not to share this. Instead I found myself trying to explain the Four candles/fork handles joke only to realise that american humour is different and these guys were seriously into candles. Bed became very attractive.

The following morning I had a two hour timeshare interview which I had not anticipated and which ended up at 4 hours. It started with a plenary presentation which started 50 minutes late and was preceded by having to watch my host eat her breakfast. After this ordeal I sped for the beach which was 30 mins away. I stayed late to avoid traffic and returned to quaff wine and enjoy a meal at the hotel.

The following morning I checked out early and drove towards West Palm Beach from where the ship would sail at 5pm. I had done my research and found another beach in a State Park only 10 mins from the port. I stayed until 3.30pm and then checked my car into valet parking and, having caused some consternation by my combination of UK passport and Green Card, I boarded.

The ship was tired but not as tired as the entertainment and food. My cabin was OK but only had a tiny porthole from which to espy the seas. The whole experience was a ‘nickel and dime’ one. I had a bucket of beers, chose to eat in the posh restaurant where I was seated with a delightful family of four who had not expected to share a table. The waiter came and took their orders. After a while I asked why he did not take my order. He told me that they like to serve the children first. My explanation that these delightful children were not mine only served to confuse him so I went with the flow and the family were amused. They were having the same experience as I was in terms of feeling sucked into the whole thing.

Grand Bahama Island is only 70 miles off the coast of Florida. The journey could have been achieved in under three hours but this would not have enabled the company to extract enough money from innocent punters so the journey lasted 15 hours!

On board I had arranged transport to the hotel and a genial native filled the 50 minute drive with amusing information. about the island’s trees, history, sex drive and the Brits. On arrival at the ‘all inclusive’ hotel we joined one of three long queues to register. It was 10am and the rooms would only be available at 3.30pm. My queue was served by a novice who had to keep seeking advice of her supervisor. Eventually I reach the point at which I was being served. They knew nothing about me and had no documents for me. She then disappeared to the main office and was gone for a while . The queue behind me was getting agitated so, in the way I can, I summoned the supervisor, who confirmed her high office but refused to serve the folk behind me.

Eventually I was given some paperwork so that I could return later to access my room. In fear of more queues I decided to leave my bags and walk the beach access the room much later. It turned out to be a garden view whereas I had been promised an ocean view. It didn’t worry me too much but there are principles!

The meals were all buffet style and three were available each day. I opted for two. My choice to drink only after 6pm was not one shared by others. When I returned from the beach on that first evening the hotel was littered with folk who had drunk too much in the sun and were now sleeping the sleep of Odin!

I met a delightful Swiss couple and having overheard them speaking French I ventured some French myself. The wife, who spoke English very well, was delighted since her husband only spoke French and had only his wife to speak to! I mused that this is why God invented work … to keep couples separate for some hours each day and thus give the marriage a better chance of survival! I met them several times over the time I was there and it was a joy to share their interesting and cultured conversation. I met some other folk who marriages seemed destined for the rocks unless the husband refrained from starting his drinking at 10am.

I was on the Bahamas for 3 days and 2 nights. I enjoyed the beach and some of the company and was ready to board ship again. It was more of the same and I paid for the Adult Comedy Show which I regret since it was more pre-pubescent slapstick.

It was Sunday morning when I reach the mainland and immigration took its usual long while before I was reunited with my car. The weather was turning so I chose to drive straight home and four hours later around 1pm I was home.

While I was away I had arranged for the builders to lay a porcelain tile floor. There was dust everywhere but it was a good job. They had had to removed the baseboards in the process and these would be replaced by new ones. All the furniture was arranged in the middle of each room so I’d hoped this would happen sooner rather than later.

I had Monday off and chose to work Tuesday. I did my usual School Mass and choir practice on Wednesday. During the day it was formally announced that our pastor Fr Mike Muhr would be leaving to take up a new job as a priest for the priests of the diocese. and had We thank God for the three years we have had with him. After the choir practice I had to kill some time before collecting John Bell from the airport at 11pm. One of the choir invited me to pass the time with him at a wine bar so I obliged willingly. At the airport I checked the arrivals and found one that seemed appropriate. John had not told me on which airline he would arrive so I had to guess. I guessed wrong and found myself driving around in circles for an hour until security stopped me. They then paged him and he moved from where he had been waiting. He was disgruntled about this wait but hey ho … I love driving around in circles.

Back at my placed it was about 00.30am and we chatted over several whiskies till about 3.30am. The following morning I took him to visit the venue where he would be giving an evening on Monday and then drove him to the rendezvous where in the manner of prisoner/espionage exchanges I passed him onto the Episcopalians whom he had agreed to entertain for the next few days.

I returned to work the rest of the day and finished the evening at my old bar where I was able to borrow a trolley. I had arranged to buy a washer and a dryer unit from a neighbour and needed something to move them to the house.

On Friday I relaxed by the pool. Later that evening Ross Loveridge arrived from Scotland via Orlando. He would spend a few days with me before leaving to explore the south of Florida on Wednesday. During the day it was further announced that our new pastor would be Fr Dan Kayagan.

I had to work on Saturday so I left Ross to relax and returned in the early evening. We ventured to two bars and then to the Ghenghis Grill for a take away meal. The receptionist had clearly been hitting the alcohol and since these restaurants have become familiar to so many … but not us, found it difficult to explain what to do!

On Sunday I was working as ever but so that I could be hospitable to John Bell who was returning during the afternoon I was able to find a cover musician for the evening Mass. We spent the afternoon by the pool and then christened the bbq and started on the cocktails. I have never made cocktails and took direction from John. the results were unusual and strong.

On Monday after breakfast we went to Honeymoon Island just past Dunedin which is my usual kayak spot. We walked the beach until we found a spot to stop. Later I continued to the end of the beach but got some thorns in my feet in the process! We returned home for a wash and brush up before venturing to the Higgins Hall on my church site where the event would be. It was attended by over 100 people and was in aid of Trinity Cafe which provides 360 hot meals each day to the homeless. I treated my guests to a meal at Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and then we returned to my place for a drink or two.

The following day I went into work early and Ross took John to the airport and then pottered about for the day. When he returned I was meeting with a gent about solar panels in which I was interested. This done we powered up the bbq and enjoyed t-bone steaks with broccoli I had purloined from a funeral reception earlier that day.

On Wednesday I did my usual stuff and Ross set off on the next stage of his adventures driving south to explore the Everglades. Once past Miami he would enjoy one of the greatest drives in the world to Key west via the ‘7-mile bridge’.

Happily, because I had completed many hours work already I was able to go into work later. I spoke at length at a pastoral team meeting on matters arising from the visit of John Bell. Then after giving an organ lesson I joined friends at Charann’s Tavern and went home.

I had forgotten about a meeting at the house with someone about pest control but since I had not left already he caught me in time. Florida bugs are a real problem here and since the baseboards are off the ground floor at the moment it seemed a good time to get the place treated. They would also treat the outside for termites and all manner of nasty biting critters. I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the sun with temps in the low 90sF.

At the end of the day with another friend from The Local bar we went ‘on safari’ in search of Darcee who had been barred from The Local some weeks ago. We found her at the second stop and she was really touched that we had taken the trouble to find her. It seemed the perfect end to a brilliant day!

Last week was great. Since I had done so much work over Easter I was able to relax a bit during the following week.

On Monday I pottered around the house but also spent some good time by the pool. I worked on Tuesday but was interrupted by two funerals.

Then I took the next three days off. Each morning I left early and took the kayak to a different place. On Wednesday I visited Fort Desoto which I had not done for quite a while. It was wonderfully peace out there. The power of nature was evident in the creation of new sandbars which almost linked to the mainland. In the evening I visited ‘glory days’ another local bar and enjoyed some IPA. I left very soon as locals were forecasting a mighty storm. In the event there was a definite downpour but it did not last long.

On Thursday I went to Dunedin Causeway from where I would paddle to Caladesi Island, a favourite spot. Unfortunately soon after I got out of the car I managed to lock my keys and phone into the car. By 11am the pop-a-lock woman arrived to rob me of $60 but return my keys. I then spent the rest of the day on the island watching the boats and fishing. Later that evening I dropped into my old bar and met with friends.

On Friday I returned to Dunedin without locking my keys in the car. I spent  all day on the beach reading and playing sudoko. Later I went to my local for pizza and a couple of beers before heading home for wine and a film.

I worked on Saturday but also had a wedding. It was a small affair but great fun. Few people sang but hey ho! I was also able to complete my US tax process by returning things signed to my CPA. Later that evening using liquid chlorine I shocked the pool which had been going green. Algae forms really easily in these high temperatures and I had not paid enough attention to it during the days when I was out on the kayak.

I awoke Sunday and did my usual stint of Masses followed by a Divine Mercy Holy Hour. By the time that had finished it was already 2.40pm and not worth returning home so I stayed at work. It was dark when I returned to add more chemicals to the pool to deal with the algae.. A fine bottle of red washed down an equally fine pasta.

Today is Monday and regular day off. By midday the sun had appeared through the clouds. It actually rained again last night. The pool was no longer green but littered instead with debris from trees blown off by the rain storm.

Since I have builders arriving in a week I spent some time clearing away anything fragile and made final plans for my cruise to the Bahamas next week. The more I read about this in reviews the more I feel that I have been taken for a ride. We’ll see next week!

 

The last week was Holy Week and probably the busiest of any church musician’s year. Mine was no exception. It began with a leisurely Monday off being terminated by a rehearsal for the Chrism Mass. The choir met for one rehearsal of music we had never seen but since the singers were all competent choir members and music directors it all went rather well. The following day was the Mass itself and we were joined by the brass and timpani along with other assorted instrumentalists. Here they still sing ‘Ecce sacerdos magnus’ for the arrival of the bishop. At 6ft 5in he certainly is ‘magnus’. They don’t seem to understand the idea that a bishop might be humble, vulnerable or even Christ-like! After the Mass I was asked two questions by the Choir Director: whether I’d play for future diocesan events and would I consider a commission for the Diocesan 50th anniversary. I was open to both although unless they come up with a text soon I think the latter is unrealistic. Nice to be asked though.

After lunch I returned to work which ended with the final rehearsal of the bilingual choir which would sing at Holy Thursday and Easter Vigil.

I spent Wednesday relaxing by the pool and most of Thursday likewise. I’d worked hard to ensure that I had some down-time during the week so as to conserve my energies for the various liturgies. Holy Thursday went very well indeed and finished with sung Night Prayer during the adoration period.

Good Friday came as something of a relief as the choir comprised my English-speaking singers. The menu for this liturgy was restrained as befits the liturgy. In addition to the usual hymns we sang my antiphon ‘we adore your Cross’ and ‘Reproaches’ as well as Chris Walker’s ‘God so loved the world’.

The Vigil went extremely well lasting over three hours with 8 full initiations. We had decided that the Vigil would be for Elect only but one Candidate crept in for pastoral reasons! I introduced one new idea. At the start between each of the ‘lumen’ Christi’ dialogues we sang John Bell’s ‘Kindle a flame’. It worked rather well, I thought.

My favourite song of the night was ‘Every little thing we do’ but my arrangement of the Exodus Psalm caused a whoop of delight from the congregation!

This all finished at 1140 and I was home by 1230 in the morning. I had to be up at 4.45 for the ‘sunrise Mass. It was a little too early for the sun this year which kind of defeated the purpose! By 2pm I had completed 5 Masses and went for dinner with some friends from church. I returned home briefly to watch Chelsea lose to Spurs and then went out again for the evening Mass.

On my way home I stopped off at the local bar for a drink or two and was so tired I only managed one, went home and only managed a glas of wine before sleep came upon me.

I awoke this morning somewhat refreshed for a meeting with my contractor. He’d brought with him the guy who would do the porcelain tile floor to the ground floor. I was delighted that he agreed to get the work completed while I was away on a cruise in two weeks time.

I have the rest of the day at home so I will not worry if sleep comes upon me once more!

 

Saturday 2 March included the confirmation of about 100 youth by our new supersized (7ft 5in) Bishop. The choir were fantastic and coped with the new stuff I threw at them including my setting of ‘As the deer thirsts’. There was a bit of a commotion when I started playing the Glory to God (in Lent). We had contacted the Bishop’s MC and specifically asked about the Glory to God and were told that as it was a ritual Mass this should be included. That’s what you get for asking the question!

In England my brother Chris and his wife were celebrating with their daughter Bethan. This would be her last weekend before departing on an exploration of Australia. She would spend much of the year away. Although technology allows a certain goodly amount of communication it is not the same as a flesh to flesh encounter. She’s a great woman and will light up the company wherever she goes.

I discovered that my previous post, the cathedral in Sheffield, now has the pipe organ back in place after a substantial restoration project funded by the Lottery for which I had made the initial application when I was in post. I recall Fr Incompetence informing me that the next stage of the application would be a fairly simple affair. Since he displayed such a depth of ignorance I handed it over to him to complete. Needless to say he was unable to do so and ended up having to engage all manner of personel to assist. I recall one meeting with him in which he insisted that the organ be removed before any building works started in the cathedral itself. He gave me three weeks to organise this although I doubted the need. It would have been a simple enough task to clad the instrument in protective covering but he was, as ever, insistent. So the instrument went into storage for several years (with all the additional storage costs) before work even started on the organ. I did not know then that the cathedral would be in such a dire financial mess that one of the principle means of coming close to making the loan repayments was to extend the term and to make my post redundant. But, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. At least, that was the case for me! Not so for the cathedral community who still have to endure their ‘priest’. It appears to be almost impossible to find another priest to share the burden of ‘running’ the cathedral and the 3 other parishes he ‘serves’ and those that do find their way to assist do not seem to stay long!

On the positive side the National Lottery have ensured that there are sufficient funds to provide for a memorable opening event. Accordingly Olivier Latry from Notre Dame, Paris will grace the keys. This should be something of an education for the parish who will at last hear a real organist playing music from the standard repertoire rather than the Victorian fodder from the present incumbent.

During this first week of March I answered an advert about some sofas and a week later I was having two sofas, two winged back chairs and 5 occasional tables delivered to my house. They fit wonderfully and are what Americans describe as ‘high-end’. How fitting!

On Saturday March 10 The same people were holding a garage sale so I attended this for the last hour and picked up some more bargains including 3 solid oak shelving units which now stand in my double garage dividing the kayak gear from the washing machines etc.

On that Saturday evening I returned home after work and opened the mail. The first letter was from the Immigration people and confirmed that I had completed the requirements successfully for the Green Card and would receive the document within three weeks. The next letter enclosed the Green Card itself! It is a relief to finally have it having spent $1500 of my own money on the process which began in September 2016.

The other good news is that I was approached by the local Jesuit school to tutor its star music pupil in the organ. They had awarded him a scholarship to study with me. Unfortunately there is no organ yet in the recently built ‘chapel’ so for the meantime the student will come next door to St Lawrence for lessons and practice. Next week I will go to Jesuit to attend the award.

Apart from my usual work much of my time has been spent in preparing music for the Holy Week which this year will be a bilingual experience. Last year I had created a new choir called ONE VOICE, MANY CULTURES which was a combination of the English and Hispanic choirs. This group will meet again for the Triduum. We had a great rehearsal with the hispanic instrumental musicians and I am feeling more optimistic about it all now.

I am still no closer to having the post-Irma work on the house completed. The roof is now done and paid for but I await the work on the floor, ceiling and french doors.

At the end of January I had gone for a check up at the doctors and discovered that my blood pressure was very high … perhaps accounting for some temporary loss of sight issues. I had decided there and then to make some changes and having Lent follow 2 weeks later was also useful. Over the last 6 weeks I have lost 20lb. I now wish I had not thrown away those clothes I had never thought I’d manage to get into again! The weight does not seem to decrease much now. It’s as though I’ve found my level but it does feel good to have people comment!

I enjoyed doing the music for the Masses this weekend. The choir was on good form as were the cantors and the homilies were as interesting as ever. We had a visiting Nigerian priest for the Sunday evening Mass who was a real character. We chatted before Mass and discovered a mutual connection in Fr Alan MacLean in whose London parish he had worked for a while. It is a small world.

After Mass I was chatting with parishioners and the same priest when one lady mentioned that she was having an operation the net day. Immediately the priest asked for the oil of the sick and invited the 8 people present to share in the priestly ministry of healing. It was a beautiful unexpected end to a great day.

On my drive home I checked my phone to find that a friend, Emily, had posted a recording of her piano playing in a church in Devon. About 10 days ago she had started her walk from the southernmost point in England to the most northerly point of Scotland mainland. The deep snow, blizzards and driving rain made the church a brief resting point from the elements. ‘Her tiny hands must have been so frozen’ (operatic quote there!) as she played her Scott Joplin.

On Wednesday 21 March I went to hear ??? offer an evening of music and Lenten reflection. He was born with no arms as a result of thalidomide during his mother’s pregnancy but had succeeded in learning to play the guitar with his feet. His shot to fame when he played during the Papal visit of Pope John Paul II. The Pope famously leapt off the stage to embrace and kiss him. Unfortunately I did not feel a similar emotion and was rather relieved when it ended. Others however were in transports of delight. ‘Chacun a son gout’, I suppose.

The following evening we had choir practice, the second in preparation for Holy Week.

Friday was a day off but I started with a visit to Jesuit High School to attend the award of a scholarship to my student. I had the opportunity to gaze at the exterior of what will be their new ‘chapel’. They will also have a new organ installed soon, an instrument by Phoenix which I had been impressed by in England. The rest of the day I spent lazing by the pool and tidying my office.

Then on Saturday 24 March I held a combined rehearsal for the two bilingual celebrations of Holy Week. Unfortunately Hector had had an eye procedure and they ended up treating both eyes so he could see nothing at all. So when his choir members rang him to check the time he could not see his schedule and gave them a later time! Anyhow it all worked well. I returned to the office after the rehearsal and did a bit more work until the Vigil Mass. I was tired after this and had a restful night in.

I continued tired even after the first Mass of 4 the following morning. I had chosen some fine music for the cantors and choir and all did a grand job.

Over the last few days the weather has improved and this afternoon the temps were in the mid 80sF. I have a day off tomorrow so it will probably cloud over!