Seeing to the camels ...

Actually, there is only one. One camel, I mean, for three Magi. Some years ago the other camel was fatally injured by a careless handler and couldn't be mended. Such are the tales of the people who deal with the extras of church life, of whom I seem to have become one. I think I've referred before to Barbara Pym's novel Excellent Women, and in a spirit of black humour I look at myself and I wonder ...

Actually my hour or so spent heaving boxes around in the horribly wet tower room of our church, while the sound of drips falling inexorably on the ceiling reminded me of various times when it had collapsed, before we stopped bothering about ceilings, was at once tiring and hilarious. No matter how much effort I put into trying to organise all these figures - not just for Christmas and Epiphany, but also for Easter - they seem to become jumbled in their plastic boxes, or the box lids go mysteriously missing, so that setting them up next time is never as easy as it should be. This time, for instance, I discovered that Joseph had somehow found himself with the two more obvious Wise Men and the camel, while the oldest WM was pretending to be Joseph, despite the fact that he was carrying a long earthenware jar, presumably full of myrrh. Now the stable has been turned into a house (hay and manger removed, along with the tiny baby and the kneeling Mary; seated Mary with infant on knee now has a hessian carpet and her betrothed returned to her. The camel (pictured) is waiting patiently just at the door ...

All this took about an hour. My hands were numb with cold and slightly damp, like everything else, but I had been accompanied in my efforts by the organ practice of Himself, who was playing through what everyone calls his "Camel Music". I had a quick sing through the communion solo and we called it a day.

Later, we went down to the Ardyne (again) in search of some brighter sky and a walk. We got slightly wet, but until the rush hour (6 or so cars heading home from the Loch Striven base or something, plus the shift change at the fish farm) the silence was broken only by a skein of geese overhead. I'll start off the year's extras with one of the ship moored off Rothesay Bay after it put all its lights on. 

I started watching a rather good film after the News, but as I was up early shopping I've put it to record - the wonderful Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen. 

Note well: this is me trying to be sensible.