I haven't seen anything new yet.
We are warm and cosy in our sitting room . We are alone with Kiaora Cat and our television set. Samson is still sporting his festive red ribbon, and though not watching TV is listening to the Cole Porter songs with us, his back arched against the radiator.
We have not had the car out for 5 days.I have used 5 drums of salt clearing a path to the dustbin. Scarborough Borough Council do not usually bother to grit our Filey roads and paths. This year has been an exception. A week ago a slight sling of grit on the footpaths was applied.
We have registered -1 to -14 for a week. It has not been above. I have dripped clothes dry on the shower rail, removing my Thermal long johns quickly when the a crunch on the ice outside the back door announces callers.
The ground is definitely hard as iron so the carol words have been ringing true this year.I realise that most of the carols lyrics bear absolutely no resemblance to real life conditions for most of my Christ masses, but this year never a truer word and all that...
Filey has been true to 'In the bleak midwinter', We have never sung it so many times. I looked thro all the lyrics on my Bethlehem Carol Sheet and have been reviewing the words. I have been remembering 2 wonderful trips to Israel, and the heat of Jericho, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. We decided that the Nativity on BBC 1 must have been filmed somewhere with a moorish background, as the windows were islamic looking. Canon Edward suggested this first. He was right. It was filmed in Morocco (BBC iplayer)
I am so used to singing all those familiar carol lyrics without thinking . I so agree with Ruth Gledhills comment last week in the Times
'After half a century of sitting through church nativities, I am bored to tears with Mary and Joseph and plastic baby Jesus . My heart sinks at the thought of those eternal carols yet again........It (the BBC nativity) turns out to be one of the best written, cinematically magical tragi-comic religious dramas ever broadcast on television.'
So whilst I sit here unable to get anywhere , with family plans on hold, watching evergreen wholesome films, my highlight of the season* so far has been the BBC offering. I will be happy to watch it every year.
*Not for purists , but Christmas for me starts with 9 lessons and Carols .
Nine lessons and carols (now tv, but for many years on the radio) has always been, for me, the real beginning of Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWhether it is the accoustic of the setting - exceptionally clear - or simply the purity of the sound, for me it is absolutely magical and I would never willingly miss it.
Like yours, my Christmas was 'other' than as planned, but there are some compensations for being house-bound.
Let's hope the weather will relent soon and "normal service" be resumed.