At the beginning of this month Sandy and I flew to Inverness .. well technically we didn’t fly to Inverness as the EasyJet plane was late and then diverted to Edinburgh from where coaches were provided near midnight to take us to Inverness. It was a lovely trip, particularly our day tour to Skye. Here’s a short video here featuring Sandy meeting Aberdeen Angus cows and me wading in the Fairy Pools in Skye. Sandy did not go to the pools as it was a longish trek from the road and she wasn’t up to it
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Sandy and I went to church today and then travelled via the riverboat to Leicester Square where we ate at Misato Restaurant.
The church service was a good one about inclusion and the church’s doors being open to everyone. I took communion, as I often do, even though I’m not a ‘confirmed’ member of any church. I can’t say that I’m a believer or a non-believer since I take much of Christian religious language to have symbolic rather than literal significance.
I read that today, 24th March is Telemann’s birthday.
Georg Philipp Telemann (24 March [O.S. 14 March] 1681 – 25 June 1767) (German pronunciation: [ˈteːləman]) was a German Baroquecomposer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family’s wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually settled on a career in music. He held important positions in Leipzig, Sorau, Eisenach, and Frankfurtbefore settling in Hamburg in 1721, where he became musical director of the five main churches. While Telemann’s career prospered, his personal life was always troubled: his first wife died only a few months after their marriage, and his second wife had extramarital affairs and accumulated a large gambling debt before leaving Telemann.
Wikipedia.
I listen to all the pieces recommended by Clemency Burton-Hill but only share those that I find particularly appealing.
Felix Mendelssohn Piano Trio No.1, op.49 in D-minor
Mendelssohn died aged just 38. But he had accomplished so much.
I am reading ‘Year of Wonder‘ by Clemency Burton-Hill. It looks at one piece of classical music each day. A worthwhile book, it prompts listening .. and that leads to more wonderful pieces.
Mendelssohns – Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor (op. 25) , Yuja Wang, Kurt Masur (Full)
I need this. We need this .. Renewal. Rebirth. Monteverdi is a Renaissance composer and this piece of music celebrates, O Zepher Return, celebrates the return to Spring.
From Wikipedia: An equinox is commonly regarded as the instant of time when the plane (extended indefinitely in all directions) of Earth‘s equator passes through the center of the Sun.[3] This occurs twice each year: around 20 March and 23 September. In other words, it is the moment at which the center of the visible Sun is directly above the Equator. In the northern hemisphere, the equinox in March is called the Vernal or Spring Equinox; the September equinox is called the Autumnal or Fall Equinox.
Handed in at my surgery on Friday. pic.twitter.com/CPf4GtJMdJ— Stephen Timms (@stephenctimms) March 18, 2019
There must be a minimum standard beneath which no person should be permitted to fall. Situations like this must be considered an emergency and be corrected immediately.
If Theresa May’s ‘deal’ has been rejected twice by Parliament that suggests that the MPs who voted against it think that there is something intrinsically wrong with it and that they will say no again when asked again to approve it on 23rd March. Unfortunately my naive logic fails because:
1. MPs rejected the deal for different reasons. Some want no Brexit, some a softer Brexit and others a harder Brexit.
2. May is saying to the hard Brexiters that they should accept her deal because however it is presented it can be made harder later. That’s to say that the ‘Irish Backstop’ which guarantees no ‘hard border’ between Ireland and Northern Ireland can be disregarded unilaterally at some future time. Thus she is acting in bad faith towards either the EU or the hard Brexiters.
If the hard Brexiters buy May’s guarantee that the guarantee to the EU is not a guarantee then they will vote for the deal and Parliament’s ‘no’ will become a ‘yes’.
I’m off FB for Lent. That was my only public resolution.
I have other resolutions/observances to observe but let’s say that it’s taken some time for me to get into the full spirit of the thing.
We were with Lisa, Dane and the children this afternoon and evening. It was a home blessing rather than a house warming. I thought it was nice. I thought that we should bless this Earth too. I thought that we on this Earth should recogognise each other as part of One Family. This is surely the greatest religious observance.
No intention to write an essay every day but writing helps me reflect, even if there is no one to reflect with. FB is valuable for that, having people reflect my thoughts back to me. But now is a time to go inwards.
“I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.”
Greta Thunberg