Saturday 22 December 2012

Bleak



My Advent window was based on the carol
In the Bleak Midwinter.
In reality there is no snow.
It rains and it rains.
Meandering rivers and new lakes are upwelling
in the fields below our house.
The sea and sky have merged.
The dark spattered windows and dripping gutters,
complete the sensation of being cast out
into the stormy ocean.
But the new roof is watertight,
and the house is warm and candlelit.
We had friends and family visiting
and eating in our newly completed extension
and all was well.
The daylight hours are lengthening,
if only a minute at a time,
and these bleakest of days will recede.
Meanwhile I take heart from the promise
that there will be no hose pipe ban next year.



8 comments:

  1. "in the bleak midwinter" was playing this morning whilst I and Anu, my Hindu houseboy, assembled and decorated the Christmas tree. That carol transported me back fifty years into late childhood.

    The tree is now stands proudly dressed in red and gold. Anu energetically continues to decorate the house in readiness for our Christmas party. And I sit clutching a gin fizz...

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  2. It was lovely to sit and just listen to your chosen version of "In The Bleak Midwinter" Lucille, such a beautiful, beautiful piece.

    Drier here this morning. We are at the top of a hill but looked out yesterday over fields which are normally never saturated, but which were shiny with patches of water.......

    Have a wonderful, warm and dry Christmas.

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  3. That carol is my enduring love. Back in the days, long long ago, when I had any influence over the choice of hymns in church I used to refuse to go to any Christmastime service that did not include it. Now, I can simply have it on repeat on my iPod: change and improvement all around I see ...

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  4. It's a beautiful carol .
    We're all warm , well fed , safe and happy like you , and wish the same for everyone , wherever they are .

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  5. Merry, merry Christmas, Lucille! Such lovely bleakness! Your reflective, gentle posts always make me nod and smile and hum along, and I wish you sunlight and shade in precise and beautiful balance for the coming year.

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  6. No I didn't know it, but it's a lovely word and kindly applied. Thank you.

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  7. Merry Christmas from me too. Glad your roof doesn't leak!

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  8. Same here, but oh, the condensation in the new utility room! The builders told me that we would need a hot dry summer before the thickly-rendered walls would be properly dry, and we all know what happened next....

    Glad you are snug and happy in your new house, no matter what the weather.

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