GOOD TO BE OUT!

For the last ten days, I haven’t really been out except to drive from our house to Mum’s and back, so when I took Mr. HCB to Church and dropped him off, I decided to go and have a wander around Queen’s Park - a lovely park in the middle of our town.

It was good to be out and as it was quite early, I managed to find a parking space right outside the park.  There weren’t many people around, so I could just meander and enjoy the surroundings, taking photographs as I went.  The fountain in the middle of the lake wasn’t working the last time I was there, so it was good to see that, as well as the various mallards, Canada geese and coots, but interestingly, there were no swans today - or none that I saw anyway.

As I walked into the park, I saw the white Japanese anemones poking their little “faces” through the wrought iron railings and rather liked this - although it does look as if the railings need a good paint!

I walked through the park towards Holy Rood Church, the main Catholic Church in Swindon and saw people waiting outside, probably waiting for the next Mass to start, passing two well-kept flower beds just outside that entrance to the park.  

The doors were open so I could see that the Church was full, the singing was beautiful - and I felt uplifted.  There was a man outside holding a toddler in his arms - he told me that she wanted to walk everywhere, so he had come out so that she did not disturb anyone.  He told me he was originally from Goa, so I chatted to him and said that our son who lives in Vietnam had been there a few months ago and loved it. 

The only “fly in the ointment” was the fact that a Traffic Warden was putting Fixed Penalty Notices on various cars parked outside the Church.  I felt that targeting churchgoers wasn’t very charitable but then again, they are only doing their job!

I heard from my brother, Paul, who is doing the early morning shift, that Mum had a good night, which is great, so hopefully we will have a good day too.  I’m sure I will be watching "Songs of Praise" with her  later because I know she enjoys that.  It could be a long shift today, so I am grateful for the time I was able to wander around and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

“We need to find God, 
     and he cannot be found 
          in noise and restlessness. 
God is the friend of silence. 
See how nature - 
     trees, flowers, grass - 
          grows in silence; 
see the stars, the moon and the sun, 
     how they move in silence…..
we need silence to be able to touch souls.”
Mother Teresa

P.S.  Thank  you for all your kind comments in the last few days, especially your good wishes for my Mum - all of which are much appreciated.