Yesterday I had the best birthday ever. Fairly early in the day I dropped a book in the bath, for the first time in all my years of reading in the bath - not bad going. It wasn't fatal, neither was it a partic. valued book ('modern' short stories - 1940's). It dried out. The rest of the day was spent with Ron - I abandoned my children (they survived!)
Then another major event - a trip to the hairdressers for the first time in 20 years! I got my hair cut to shoulder length - my head felt quite light afterwards! Next we left for Winchester where, 28 years ago, we got engaged - in the shadow of Winchester cathedral. We stopped off at the Fairoaks coffee shop where we sat in the sunshine watching aircraft.
Arriving in Winchester we headed for the Cathedral where we had a very informative guide tell us bits of the history. It was a delightful way to spend a birthday - reminding oneself of history on such a grand scale. The priviledge of belonging to the body of Christ universal and historical was really impressed on me. The painstaking craftsmanship of stone-carvers of 600 years ago and the 'temporary' shoring-up of the roof which was put in place in the 1400's and still remains was amazing. The Bible (abandoned unfinished due to lack of money) composed of vellum pages made from 250 calf-skins, was fascinating to look at, with spectacular illumination and details of how such a book was made being apparant. That one monk would spend about 5 years of his life just doing the writing helps one to get a different perspective on life in sharp contrast to our fast-paced short-term view of our life and work.
After Choral Evensong we returned home - I was missing the children - and we watched a bit of Barchester Chronicles - some of the story is based on events Trollope was aware of in the Winchester area.