…and sanctified a day of rest for all…

 

The title phrase is from the evening Collect for Saturdays from the Book of Common Prayer. The entire prayer reads: “Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven.”

I just said that prayer at the conclusion of the evening office. On my way to the office it struck me that I did not rest today. After oversleeping a bit this morning I read a text from a friend who is currently on the east coast where the weather is much nicer (70º vs. 20º here). In reply I checked on the weather report to learn that we have a winter weather advisory in effect until Monday morning.

All of the pots were still on the deck and the deck furniture as well. That all needed to go somewhere. The somewhere for the ceramic pots is the garage.  Normally I love having a basement garage except for one day in the spring and one in the fall. How does one get those huge pots to the garage? Well, if one is big and strong one can carry the pot down the hill. Unfortunately I am not big (in that sense) and strong. The year + of chemo has not added to my physical strength. The

Remember how the deck looked.
This is it today.

lack of workouts at the fitness center due to COVID-19 has not helped. Enough with the excuses. The upshot is that I cannot carry the heavy pots down the hill in the side yard.  The other option is to use my “wagon,” a handy device that was gifted to me which can be a hand truck or turned into a wagon. That option requires going down the sidewalk and through the culdesac and up the driveway into the garage. This is a trip of nearly a city block. Push having come to shove there was no other option so I began heaving pots on the wagon (two per trip) and making the trek. The furniture also had to go to the basement through the garage.  Hours later I was finished and tired.  The aches and pains will show up tomorrow.

This day of frenetic activity was preceded by a whole week of gloomy weather which did not motivate me to do much of anything that needed to be done. We have, perhaps, had a total of 6 hours of sunlight all week.  For those of us with SADS it was not a happy week. Looking out the window now one can see the snow has begun and will not stop until we accumulate 2 to 5 inches. After all the onsets of winter I’ve experienced, it is never something to which I look forward. If one wants to experience the change of seasons (which is one of the reason given for living here) then winter is an experience. Each year I question my sanity in choosing to “experience the change of seasons.” Once winter has arrived it doesn’t seem all that bad. The arrival and departure thereof seems trying every year. 

Yesterday was another day of busy-ness. I volunteer at the Pavilion of Arts and Science in the morning until 1 PM. I grabbed a sandwich and went on my way to the auto service center for an oil change. Then I went to the cathedral to pick out some music for November 1, so I can play for the service. I don’t think I’ve played for a service for over a year so some heavy duty practicing will have to happen this week. Then it was time to run to the meat market for a couple of items and finally home. Having been away from 9:30 until 5:30 Sophia was wondering if she had been abandoned.

Sophia appears to like having me around.  For most of the day she is satisfied if we share the same room. Regularly she has a period of time in the afternoon when she parks herself on my chest and purrs loudly. This occurs sometimes in the evening as well. Every morning we are expected to have game time. She races up the steps ahead of me when she sees me heading to the bedroom.  After my shower we have to “play the game.”  There is a mangled tinsel thing suspended from a string which she loves to chase. There are times when she becomes quite acrobatic in the pursuit of the “toy,”  leaping and doing twists in the air.

This was the first of my two weeks off from chemo. I did get the first of my shingles vaccine shot. Our Benedictine group met in the Oratory again this week.  It is like coming home when we are there. Most of the group joins us for the live-stream. We can only accommodate a few in person in order to maintain physical distancing.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.  Things are going well for me.  Remember to pray for all those who are suffering in various ways from the pandemic. Pray also that the eyes of those who “think” nothing is wrong with the way it is being handled may be opened.