A memory in a glass coaster

This is ridiculous. I am really busy at work. I am way behind on Christmas. I need to sort things out for the weekend. And on top of that I find myself thinking this evening ...... must take a photo today, preferably something abstract(ish) which means something to me. Is this wholly rational ? I think not.

Whatever,  this is my blip for today. We bought this last Friday in Kendal, in virtually the first shop we came across. It specialises in decorative glassware. Really attractive pieces (to us anyway). As we left I noticed an article in an open magazine (Cumbria Life ?), talking about the new stained glass window in Kendal parish church, made by the chap who owned the shop. Talking to him, it took 18 months to do, because he used victorian techniques (hand painted individual pieces of glass).

On our return from the centre, we visited the church to have a look a the new window. It looked good - but we could not get close to it, viewing it over lots of grey heads. The local WI Christmas concert was in full swing. O Little Town of Bethlehem was strangely moving to stand and listen to. Exiting we did a circuit of the church, walking by the side of the River Kent (see extra). The sky - as it had been all day, was a brooding dark grey.

And of course the next day, after continuous and unprecedented rainfall, the river burst its banks, and Kendal hit the news headlines for all the wrong reasons. 

So this glass coaster - like other physical objects we have - somehow encapsulates a personal memory, which makes it more than just a "thing". 

I wish the people of Kendal and the rest of Cumbria all the best at this most difficult time. O little town of Kendal ........