I experienced a most unusual church service this Sunday morning. After an absence of four weeks I was looking forward to a return to normality, to a musically enjoyable service and to happily singing in the choir again. Well, we only had half a choir, rather unbalanced as well, with four sopranos, 3,5 altos (no, I won't explain!), one tenor and one strong bass. One alto and one soprano had not attended the practice on Friday, so they were at a loss what the proceedings were. Moreover the rehearsal on Friday was not supervised by our choirmaster, but by a professional singer and member of the choir who has completely different views and ideas about tempi, phrasing and especially about chanting. During the chanting we sounded like a bunch of old age pensioners with the onset of dementia or Parkinson. It was ghastly. We are in need of a workshop about chanting, about the idea that it is sung speech, so not every syllable has the same length or emphasis. The way we chant is a sure and effective cure for insomnia.  On top of that there was a christening, with so many family and relatives and friends around the baptismal font at the back of the church that they were completely blocking the view – and muting the sound of the chaplain (not of the baby who was very good and did not complain). Where have the times gone when the chaplain would walk back with the little infant in the pristine white folds of his surplice and present the new church member to the congregation?  Because the choir was so diminished, during communion we did not sing but enjoyed a musical interlude, with two choir members respectively playing the violin and the lute most beautifully. After that we sang two hymns! Our organist had disappeared during communion, and instead of being accompanied by her, we were accompanied by a piano which was hardly audible. So our triumphant exit wasn't exactly what we had imagined. We were promised that next week things will be better, as term will have started again. But I can hardly imagine that, realising that it will be a healing service! Just as well I will be away in Brussels for that weekend. Let's hope for a different service there.

Once home I just dug into some comfort food with a cup of nice strong coffee and was in the process of ruining my delicious éclair when a dear niece of mine asked me if I would like to join them for a walk on the beach. I had forgotten that besides her two children of 6 and 8 she has two dogs as well, one a very big and lively pup. It was beautiful on the beach, with bright sunshine, but a cold northerly wind. The children started collecting shells, the plastic shopping bags ballooning in the wind like spinnakers, and almost launching them. However, the pleasure was short-lived when the bouncy pup unexpectedly jumped up to the girl when she was bending over in the water to catch something or other. She fell headlong in the freezing water. We had to retrace our steps quickly and went to a small cafe to warm her with hot cacao. In the car we peeled off her wet and sandy clothes and wrapped her in blankets till we could get her home. My home it was, where she recovered on the couch under yet another nice warm plaid, none the worse for her adventure and making the most of it.