Break

Having a bit of a break over Christmas and New Years. No new posts till 2010.

Giggles in Church

First Advent yesterday. Got into the Irish Christmas spirit, but I had a great trial to overcome: We went to a tiny Protestant church in the morning whose attendance probably doubled by our being there.

Now a lady in front of us sang very shrilly off key, and a man behind us sang very agreeably off beat, and as a result I was suddenly seized with an almost irresistible urge to burst out laughing.

Fixing my eyes on the stern face of the minister finally alleviated the lacking sternness in my own face, but it took all the self-control I could muster. Haven’t had a bad case of the giggles like this for a long time.

Life is a Hill

The other day, my six-year-old daughter Sophie summed up life like this:

“Tore [her newborn cousin] is like at the very bottom of the hill, we [i.e. Sophie and her siblings] are on the side of the hill, you [i.e. my wife and I] are at the very top of the hill, but soon you’ll start going DOWN!”

(The picture, by the way, is of me as a six-year old climbing the Harz Mountains in Germany.)

Last night …

… I sat alone on our wooden porch swing under a clear, starry sky, the moon shining in the South-East and the horizon in the North glowing slightly in a swirl of blue and yellow, reflecting on the water of the bay not much more than a stone’s throw away. No sounds of civilisation anywhere. No car engines. No airplanes. No voices. The wind was perfectly still, and only the ocean waves from the other side of the hill behind our house could be heard.

Ah! Those are the moments I live for.

Bathroom Literature: Atlantic Breakers on Innumerable Desolate Lands

My bathroom literature at the moment is The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis – perfect for the purpose of a quick read.

Now I just came across C. S. Lewis describing the county Donegal in Ireland, which is where I’ve moved with my family last month. This is what he says:

“Donegal which is a v. fine, wild country with green mountains, rich secretive valleys, and Atlantic breakers on innumerable desolate sands. But alas!, they get less desolate every year and it will soon just be a holiday resort like so many other places. (One always disapproves of all holiday-makers except oneself!)”

I’m glad to say that at least in our area, C. S. Lewis’ prediction has not come true. Our beach is still wonderfully desolate, even on a warm weekend. Miles of sand with hardly a soul around. I absolutely love running there, especially at sunset.

Here’s my son on the beach:

And here is the view out of my office window:

Finally!

We finally got internet access in our new home in Ireland, Co. Donegal. So I’ll start posting more again soon.

Still waiting …

… for our new home to get caught in the web. Not a lot of posts till then.

Don’t …

… have internet in our new home yet. But patience is a virtue, isn’t it?

Just to Remind You …

… that I’m in the middle of an international move at the moment and can’t post very much. If everything goes well, in a few days I should be able to update my blog more frequently again.

Sorry …

I haven’t posted much lately because I’ve been very busy house-hunting, and we’re preparing to move as a family in the next weeks. So if my blog entries are a little sparse the next month or two, you know why.