Dancing In The Rain

Number 96 - Dancing In The Rain

I took advantage of the camping trip to fulfill this one ... I remembered as I was on my way to the bunkhouse to have a wash.  I don't find falling water the greatest inducement to dancing, so it wasn't a prolongued affair - just a hop, a skip and a jump.  Which was such fun, I did it twice more.

Number 39 'Gaze at the Night Sky'

'Gaze At The Night Sky'
This was easy - as I was camping at Llansor Mill, all alone in a field in a tent with my books, music and the Ignatian Daily Meditation (pray-as-you-go.com).  The first amazement was at the light level.  Far away from town or city I had expected it to be quite dark.  On the contrary, moonlight and starlight enabled me to move easily across the meadow without fear of falling.

Cassiopeia was my first 'sky mark' A lazy 'DoubleYou' that once, very many years ago, drew a line between the chimney pots in Capel Rd, Matson, where I grew up.  As the clouds parted further I found The Plough, though search as I might, I could not find Orion, whom I remember from another time and place.  Wrong time of year for this patch of sky, I surmised. 

I reached for binoculars and after swinging them from side to side in an attempt to focus I eventually lit on Jupiter, or Venus, or Saturn (Who cares? It was only relatively recently that my astro-phycisist daughter pointed out to me how easy it is to differentiate stars from planets, 'They twinkle, Mum!').  I focused for too long and then really couldn't tell whether it was a shooting star I spotted or the effect of the pressure of the binoculars on my eyeballs!

A truly magic half-hour when heaven came down to earth and I discovered anew how small I am, and how, as a sentient observer, how utterly, bewilderingly unique.

First Past The Post

My selection for the Book Club this month is, '99 Things To Do Between Here and Heaven'.  A good choice for the summer as there are - well, 99  - things to do  that entail getting out of the deckchair and exploring the amazing space one inhabits. It invokes a spiritual journey as well as a short hike, though this need not spoil the enjoyment of the casual reader who merely wishes to watch a birth (21), milk a cow (16) or contribute to Wikipedia (49).

I confess I have already given up on learning New Testament Greek (15) I probably won't go skinny-dipping (74), though I WILL give dancing in the rain (96) a go, if I can be sure there's no-one about.

I suggested to the Members that we 'do' four of these 99 in advance of 26th September, and report back to the meeting on the physical and metaphysical benefits of same.

Number 26 BLOG. I'll keep you posted.