Well, there's been a certain amount of intelligent leisure in Dougal land in the last 7 days. We went to a Friends do at the National Gallery. And enjoyed the on loan Rodin sculpture "The Kiss" (see above). I didn't know there were 3 of them - one in Paris, one in Copenhagen and one in the Tate (in Edinburgh now for a while) which was left by a rich eccentric collector of (mainly homo-erotic art) to that douce Sussex burgh of Lewes. The cooncil covered its naughty bits with a tarpaulin for many years. I'm sure Bishop Benn would have approved.
Then we actually had some time off when we didn't have to do any family duties so took ourselves off to sunny Durham to mooch around some of Rachel's old haunts, walk on the riverbank and go to Evensong in the Cathedral. Beautiful psalms to austere plainchant, polyphonic canticles in Latin (Vittoria in part) and decently constructed intercessions including one of my favourite prayers for the Church by Archbishop William Laud:
"Gracious Father, I humbly beseech thee for thy holy Catholic Church, fill it will all truth, in all truth with peace. Where it is corrupt purge it; where it is in error, direct it; where it is superstitious, rectify it; where any thing is amiss, reform it; where it is right, strengthen and confirm it; where it is in want, furnish it; where it is divided and rent asunder, make up the breaches of it; O thou Holy One of Israel. Amen."
And so it's back to work but feeling refreshed and strengthened.
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