A pleasant re-union

As Tom was due to play football at 10.15 this morning, I got up early to attend the 8.00 a.m. Early Morning Eucharist at St. John's. This was taken by Nils and Elizabeth jointly and was Elizabeth's first service at St. John's. She gave a brief sermon on Christ's presentation at the Temple in front of Simeon. It was absolutely freezing cold as I left the church. After a breakfast of pancakes, Tm and I went up to Barry's Sports Fields to find the match postponed because the ground was like iron. We met up with my old friend Christina and her husband Nigel for lunchtime drinks at the home of a friend of theirs who lives in East Winterslow. We had a most enjoyable time catching up and remembering old times when we both worked in the legal department at the Corporation of London; in particular, we recalled those two and a half hour lunches when we would go to the Barbican for a glass of wine and take in a lunchtime concert. Those were also the days when staff had to send instructions and advices to each other by memoranda which had to be dictated, typed and sent through a convoluted internal postage system. It took an average of about 10 days to get a response. Very different to today's instant messaging and e-mails! On returning home I watched the Hound of the Baskervilles on the TV before we all went off to see the Watoto Choir again performing at All Saints, Farley. It was a wonderful experience again. On getting back home I was enthralled watching the excellent documentary on the History of Christianity. This week it dealt with the Crusades and explained why George W. Bush's use of the word "crusade" would have provoked such a reaction from the Middle Eastern Muslims. I also phone Mum to see how she is. She remains in a lot of pain and is going to see the doctor again tomorrow. Snow has been threatened all day and as I write this blog the first covering has arrived. The forecast is for heavy snow in Hampshire and Surrey tomorrow so a scheduled trip to Dorking may very well not happen.