Dear Lord - it's ******* cold!

I didn't really want to leave this. . . .

For the last six weeks I've been living in Mauritius.You might have seen the blog I wrote about it.          It was very hot; some days it was very wet, but mostly it was very sunny. After almost six weeks of caution I decided not to bother with sun-cream for my last morning in the pool. As a result, I spent that afternoon, evening and half the night lathering on more and more layers of after-sun lotion. 
When I returned to Lincoln, the effort was worth it, just to see the bleached faces of fellow members of the Cathedral congregation. 

I am now convinced that the early weeks of the year are better spent south of the equator. I just need to find a way to fund this observation, and must keep in touch with my hospitable friends in Mauritius, Kerala and New Zealand. While I think about it, I wouldn't mind tracking down friends in East Africa...hmmm.

Home for 3 days - then this!

As I was saying in January, this weather is all very pretty, but it's also very damp and very cold - to say nothing of dangerous underfoot.

Yes, I did enjoy the heat in Mauritius. Six weeks without socks or proper shoes, six weeks of being pampered by the wonderful maids at The River House and six weeks to do some serious thinking about what I might enjoy over the next decade.

The first part of that started on Friday, when I had my first session as a volunteer mentor for the Prince's Trust. I have been assigned to help someone who is setting up an online retail business. I am not there to coach or consult; my role is to be there to listen and give an opinion - I'm someone to bounce ideas off. I don't know which one of us was more apprehensive about the interview, but once the ice was broken we seemed to get along. 

I rapidly realised that this is a role I shall enjoy.

The choir in full voice

Another aspect of getting into my Lincoln routine was to go back to the Cathedral today and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere that comes when music and tradition combine to create an event. It was Palm Sunday, and we had the symbolic greenery (more evergreen than palms, alas!) carried by the congregation and then tossed into the nave in front of the passage of the Dean and chapter; we had the palm crosses and we had a treatment of the bible reading that I've not heard before. 

The gospel today was the whole of Luke Chapter 23. Instead of being read, this was chanted in plainsong, led by the Precentor with the soloists in the choir taking different parts in the narrative of the story. It was quite breath-taking. I spoke to the Precentor over coffee afterwards and there was a twinkle in his eye when he said: "If you enjoyed that, wait to you see what we do on Good Friday."

My Lincoln life is back in full swing now. Tomorrow, (Monday,) I am off to London for a Conference Industry evening meeting. I would miss the last train so I've found a cheap room at one of the LSE Halls of Residence. On Wednesday I am reading the lesson in one of the additional Holy Week services, and on Thursday I am off down to Kent for a meeting on a potential new project.

The ironing can wait...

... as I just said: "My Lincoln life is back in full swing now."