Taking in the good things

What a feeble title that is - I think I'd have been encouraging a pupil to think harder back in the day, but at midnight after a full day ( for the aged anyway!) my creativity has already gone to sleep I fear. But yes, the pasta I made for our meal today was indeed one of the good things - spicy pesto, some left over chicken bits, green beans, half a pepper, some wee tomatoes, an onion, garlic ...

But it doesn't do to think about food at midnight, so I'll pass on. I took my time to get going this morning, but when Himself went off to practise the organ I set off in the opposite direction to visit my friend Paddy, to drink coffee and talk over some of the things that have been on my mind for the weeks ahead - church things, mostly, being close to the heart of us both. When the world was all sorted out, I walked home in the sunshine, realising that despite the actual warmth in the sun the wind was still a pretty bitter factor.

I stopped off to buy a suet cake for the birds on my way home - I'd noticed that both the feeders were right down to the last beakfuls - and it was when I was putting into its little cage to hang on the bird table that I realised that the back garden was warm. Warm enough to sit down on the bench, take my fleece off, enjoy the sensation of hot sun on my shirt sleeves ... on my face ... Funny thing was that I sensed the impatience of all the wee birds in the hedge, who emerged and sat on the top of it, looking indignantly at me sitting next to the feeders where they obviously didn't want to venture until I was safely out of the way. One or two even flew over to the neighbouring bust, to perch even closer, but it wasn't till I went in to make the pasta that they came over in a continuous relay, three birds at a time as though refereed by some invisible superior. 

We stayed in the sunny back room almost until choir practice time - the north-east facing front room tends to be depressing on a bright day - and then dragged ourselves out to a hard-working rehearsal. By this time I was having messages and photos pinging in to my phone: Alan, my older grandson, had been playing for his school's first XI this afternoon in the final of the Independent Schools' Cup and they won, handsomely. What with this, and the videos I mentioned the other day of his cousin Catriona playing like a professional in her Sunday jazz band, my proud grandma persona is having a field day - though I can't believe how adult they look, quite suddenly. 

Fairly counterbalanced  the horrors of the news, but I am unable totally to forget what we saw tonight. Evil is having a field day in the world right now. We need all the good things we can muster.