Simplicity

Throughout most of 2020 I’d been very aware that I was living through a time that would go down in history. It had been a year of change and uncertainty. December crawled to a close as did Commando’s job. For the first time in his life, he was unemployed. For us, Christmas had been a low key affair since our boys grew up. My mother was born on Christmas Day. Once she’d gone, some of the joy of the season went with her. Christmas 2020 would have been her 100th birthday, had she lived to see it. This year we made a conscious decision to forgo the decorations, cards and presents completely. It wasn’t about money. It was about simplifying. We’d had a trying few months and it was surprisingly liberating not to have all the dashing around, the shopping, the overeating and the strange emptiness when the decorations come down. It was peaceful, almost blissfully so.

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St Bartholomews, beauty in simplicity

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16 August 2015

After several minutes of dithering, looking at Google Maps on my phone and wondering if there was something I was missing, I decided the only thing to do was to carry on along Brook Lane. Maybe I’d find a path that I couldn’t see from the map and, if not, I’d just have to walk back to Botley Village. Just the thought of it was disappointing, especially as I’d worked out a route home based on finding the church and I’d have to walk back the way I came if I couldn’t. So I turned the corner and carried on, looking to my left hopefully, thinking I might spot the church or a gate or something. There was nothing but trees. Continue reading St Bartholomews, beauty in simplicity