At the end of the day

We leave behind the cold rain and grey skies
to go to Evensong in the Cathedral.

Afterwards, we chat to a elderly Friar
who is a friend of MrM's father, Thomas.
MrM says "You have a new habit!
The last one had a big patch on!".
It seems rather irreverent to me
but the elderly Friar is amused,
in a saintly kind of way.

We are nearly the last to leave
and the covered stone passages are empty.

The light at the entrance to the cloister
distracts me and for a moment
the photograph is all I can think about.

Turning, I find that I am alone
and MrM and MissM have walked on
without me.

I run to catch up.

If I had not stopped
I could have listened to MissM
describe her Eurovision party
with themed food.
I would have liked that.

Parents' Consultation Morning

A record of a morning
spent in dusty corridors

waiting for appointments
outside thick wooden doors

peering through leaded windows
at the sunshine outside,

clutching a battered timetable
with the list of names of teachers

who smile as we enter the room
and say such good things about MissM.

*****

In the middle of the morning
we met the Much Travelled MissC, friend of MissM,
and her Lovely Mother.
And the Lovely Mother of the Much Travelled MissC said

"I read your blog
and so does my mother
and my sister"

And MrsM felt slightly faint
because that means that the Lovely Mother
knows about the gilet
and the argument in the shop
and MrsM's failure as a parent
and countless other confessions
but she smiled weakly
and said "I am so glad that you like it".

Hi to you, Lovely Mother,
and the Much Travelled MissC!

Advent Carols by Candlelight

It is perishing cold.

Behind us an Archbishop waits for Eternity,
magnificent in his marble robes.
Around us the medieval splendour of the Cathedral:
columns, arches, gilding, fretwork.
For a moment this icy space is dark and silent
and the draught from the oak door
curls around our necks, freezing the warm skin.
Then the first candles are lit
and the light passes from one person to the next.
Two and a half thousand candles create a warm amber glow
and the voices of the choir rise
out of that light into the darkness.

There is a flower sprung of a tree
The root thereof is called Jesse
A flower of price:
There is none such in paradise.

This flower is fair and fresh of hue,
It fadeth never, but ever is new;
The blessed branch this flower on grew
Was Mary mild that bare Jesu;
A flower of grace:
Against all sorrow it is solace.

"There is a Flower" by John Rutter

Christmas has begun.

Yellow and Gold

Imagine that it is October
and you walk out into
a perfect autumn afternoon.

The air is still
so that the leaves barely flutter

and the light, warm and golden,
is low behind the great trees
creating long, angled shadows.

The last flowers of summer
glow in sheltered places

and you see the places that you love
as though for the first time.

Yesterday was such a day.

"These guys know how to party..."

MasterM starts the day at a Champagne breakfast
with his Housemaster and friends.

MasterM and friend discover extra bottle of Champagne;
they drink it.

(11am - Church Service)

MasterM participates in Champagne reception.

MasterM joins his parents for a Champagne picnic.

(2pm - Prizegiving)

MasterM does not attend Headmaster's Garden Party
but goes to pub where he does not drink Champagne.
He drinks something else. Beer?

(7.30pm - Leavers' Ball)


MasterM enchants all the mothers of his friends
by asking them to dance.

MasterM enjoys the availability of wine.
Red and White.

MasterM is completely articulate at midnight
when his parents leave the party.

MasterM negotiates half price entry for himself
and a large number of his friends
who wish to go clubbing
and continues dancing until 4am.

MasterM is up and ready to go
at 11am the next morning.

The Open Door

You can walk through a door every day,
in and out,
doing the things that you do,
not even seeing the door.
And then one day you will walk through it
for the last time
You probably won't even notice
because the world is waiting outside the door
and you are in a hurry to get with your life.

*****

MasterM leaves school today.
There is a Commemoration Service, Prizegiving,
Garden Party and Leavers' Ball.
On Monday he wore his school uniform
for the last time;
I thought that I would feel sad
but he looked too large for it.

I hope that the world is ready for him.

Advent Carols by Candlelight

Hundreds of tiny white candles

but they light only the edges of that

vast dark space.

These lovely words are from the first carol

Wellcome all wonders in one sight

Jonathan Dove

Wellcome, all wonders in one sight!

Eternitie shut in a span,

Summer in winter, day in night,

Heaven in Earth and God in man;

Great little one whose all embracing birth

Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth

To thee, meeke majestie! soft King.

Of simple graces and sweet loves,

Each of us his Lamb will bring,

Each his paire of silver doves,

Till burnt at last in fire of thy faire eyes,

Our selves become our owne best sacrifice.

Edited to add...

MasterM draws my attention to the fact that
somebody has donated a pair of Aviator glasses
to the second shepherd.
He doesn't think that it was one of his friends.
But it might have been.

...this shining night...

The grass in the Great Cloister is damp

and you must swathe yourself in tartan

but as the air stills

the birds settle

and the bats begin to fly

you let the music seep into you

and the night begins.