2008 began for me last night, or early this morning, as I lay in Oliver Rees' little room in the bed underneath the window. His walls are painted in black-and-white vertical stripes since he supports the Newcastle United soccer team. Through the window, ten minutes before twelve o'clock, I heard bells begin to ring--a peal of bells, chasing the changes, like at the end of The Nine Tailors. Then, as the bells tolled the twelve strokes of midnight, I could hear a crowd cheering and fireworks going off.
I went to sleep as soon as the racket was over....
I'm staying with the Rees family this week. Alistair is 15 and Oliver is 11, I believe, and they live in the little village of Rothley near Loughborough and Birmingham. Their family has been very pleasant and welcoming to me. I went on a walk with them and their church today, just out into the fields and woods beyond the town. A cloudy, damp day, the fields very muddy, but pleasant to be outside. This afternoon I studied for my Discovering Old English exam, which is in a week.
I'm sitting at their computer in a little cubbyhole in the living room. The boys are playing games on an XBox, and Mr. and Mrs. Rees are washing the supper dishes in the kitchen. I've offered to help, but they always seem to have it covered.... After supper, we sang a few Psalms. They have their Psalters, rather unused, but Alistair and Mr. and Mrs. Rees remembered some of the tunes, so it was good to sing them again--107D, 22I, 150B, 100A, and 136A.
So that's all for now.
It's been snowing and snowing here, too frequently, and now it's arctically cold, which is far worse than snow. I think I'll move to Mexico.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're having a good break. I'm pretty ready to be back at school, but it doesn't start up again til the 14th...
I have been doing a lot of reading, it's really nice! Surprised by Joy, Out of the Silent Planet, The Perilous Gard, and a Sayers mystery; all have been enjoyable for various reasons. Hope you are getting some down time between all the studying.
miss you.
Arctically cold? Ha! (we just got back from Colorado where apparently with the wind-chill factor, on the nearby peak it was 60 below zero!)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to sing some familiar psalms again. That was one thing I really enjoyed about this last retreat, of which I am really excited about and want to tell you some things when I have the opportunity. It was really great! But very, very cold. The coldest I've ever been.
Glad you could visit them again. :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a very happy new year over there!
Grin back. Surely it counts double to get it on the first of the new year?
ReplyDeleteWe will be skiing while you enjoy your academic pursuits. But what is that compared to Paris?
How romantic to hear bells such as in the Nine Taylors while you're in England for New Years! I didn't hear anything at all on New Years eve after the lights were out. Must've had something to do with just returning from a CY retreat....
ReplyDeleteI do hope you're getting your fill of soccer while you're there!
-Arwen