act 6 scene 1

There are many things which tempt me, some of which tempt me often.  At this very moment i’m resisting the temptation to break my promise of providing capitalisation.  I’m also resisting the temptation to abuse apostrophe’s in order to see a good friend of mine fly half way around the world to fix it in her own special way (see comments from my previous post).  I’m not doing very well.

What brings me here is the temptation to blog about my last couple of weeks.  Not really a temptation as such, but I should really be in bed a sleep, preparing for tomorrow.

Greenbelt

Last weekend I was at Greenbelt.  If I could have been in three places I would also have been in work switching off the Gherkin and at a wedding in Ireland.  As it was, my involvement with the festival (with the lovely Last Orders team) meant I managed to hand over my work commitment and the wedding was simply impossible to make.

It was a good weekend, marred somewhat by being overly tired and grumpy (getting up at 5am to film a sunrise is not bright).  However the Last Orders show (late night music, chat and comedy) went really well, especially on the Sunday night.  Congratulations must go to everyone for working so hard on it.

Jude

On a sadder note my friend Jude has now left the country.  Something she’s been wanting to do for a while and I’m very glad that she’s finally living her dream.  Don’t forget us Jude and read the poem below - I very much thought of you…

Eddie

I spent this weekend in Liverpool for the first time.  Aside from the broken trains I really enjoyed the experience which included staying in a far-to-good-for-a-stag-do hotel and going to a great selection of bars and clubs in order to drink and dance the night away.  Thumbs up for Liverpool - although I’ve never had such a fantastically sobering experience such as the breakneck taxi ride which went through four red lights on the way back to the hotel!

Church

Made it to church again in the evening - went to the fascinating headspace at church.co.uk where we discussed how God speaks to us (or doesn’t) and also made small origami birds after having written our hopes, prayers and aspirations on the back.  There was a poetic prayer that was read out by the guy leading the service which I found inspirational and it goes like this:

summer is over
an end to sitting on the fence
a voice beneath your certainties
shakes the settled patterns
like a colder breeze that heralds distant winter

strange lands lie waiting
beyond your southern horizon
summer is over,
and you must go or perish
here in a world no longer yours
or on the way, but in hope
your star and compass often dark
glimpsed briefly between clouds

at journey’s end, another summer
not like the first one
new seeds, new fruit to refresh the migrant
burnt by life between summers
warmed for a season
until the north calls again

You can find what I think is the original, along with the origami bird template, here.

I think this autumn is time for a new season in my life.  The new house, job and opportunities must be taken advantage of.