The bells, the bells…

Yes, I will stop writing titles that repeat the same words, but this one was hard to ignore.

This year I was able to go to the Altenberg induction course for Germany, held at a former monastery complex near Cologne.  The cathedral is visited by lots of people, and it’s a popular retreat centre for youth groups.

I was in a room which overlooked the central courtyard.  With a ‘storytale wood’ nearby the complex, it’s a really pretty setting.

Two downsides of the location though: the people on the induction course tend to sit out socialising until at least midnight on the courtyard side.

Then at six in the morning, the cathedral (at the back of my room) kicks into action, when the bells start playing.  They also play again at seven, just when you’ve drifted back off to sleep…

Despite this, the course went well, and most students were looking forward to starting work.  They also put on a great cabaret on the final evening.  The highlight had to be a performance of Bohemian Rhapsody, the whole thing performed on a grand piano by just one guy, playing and singing. Naturally the audience sang along all the way through, at least where they could remember the words.

 

An island of cake

Our first main family gathering of the year was in March, for Auntie Catriona’s 80th birthday.  Catriona lives in Greenock, but also owns a cottage on the isle of Jura, off the west coast of Scotland.

Jura was the regular holiday destination while I was growing up, and I introduced Dan to its delights fairly early on while we were going out. We’ve also brought friends there over the last few years, who have generally gone away sold on the whole experience.

So, you can imagine we were pleased to have a little slice of Jura available in Edinburgh – in fact, there was a whole birthday cake in the shape of Jura.  Catriona was really pleased, and we had fun bidding for different sections of the island by name.  However, we made sure that Catriona got to keep the Craighouse section, the main settlement on the island where the cottage is based.

We also had fun trying out the Italian restaurant in Juniper Green, which we returned to in May for the Boston Mackenzies’ visit. The owner handled the unveiling of the island with great respect!

What number are you?

You may have heard of various schemes of personality types: Myers-Briggs and others.

One we’ve been reading about for a while is the Enneagram.  You can find more about it on http://www.enneagraminstitute.com

This year, they ran a day course on it at church for the first time.  We found a few more people like each of us among the attendees… Fantastic – some supporters to agree on what you find annoying in others…or something like that.

Rather than just use it to confirm what you expected about others who you know (quite) well, it is useful to understand why we interact with certain people in particular ways.

So, if you think you know what Dan and I are, write in and let us know…

And should this all be a bit over the top, but you like a few good cartoons, try this book for size.

Poison, posturing and perestroika

Poor Russia.  Putin’s Russia seems to be on the edge.  Whether the poisoning of Litvinenko was to do with the FSB [Russia’s secret services – the wearer of the KGB’s mantle] or some oligarch inspired security force, it’s reminiscent of a bygone age.

Chechnya and the oil fields of Central Asia feel like a million miles away, but the intrigue and murder happening on our own soil feels like we’ve been violated.  Why are we so surprised?  Why are we thrilled by the chase and death in the Bourne Supremacy, but when it turns up in a familiar environment do we throw up our hands and wonder where the world is going?

London has always been an international city.  While it has benefited from the wealth of the Russian oligarchs and become the playground of the oil-billionaires, it is now also a battle ground seeing the settling of scores and the death of enemies.

We are seeing a restructuring of the world around us – an unfortunate globalisation of assinations alongside our cola, computers and other comforts.  We shouldn’t be surprised if more of this is to happen.  As London becomes richer and a place where the world does business instead of New York, it is going to see more danger. 

the first Christmas card – and advent calendar

So, we’re into December, and right on cue, our first Christmas card arrives.

Thanks, J and B!

First Christmas Card

It’s also an excuse to get out the advent calendar.  I was given this when I was about eight, and have used it most years since.  Never mind the siren song of chocolate in door a day calendars – this one has a poem a day.

Most of it is familiar, although there are some interesting additions. December 15 has a lion looking in on Mary, as she stirs a pot on a campfire, on the journey to Bethelehem.