Moment

 Dear Reader,

Stained glass windows, made up of coloured and painted glass pieces held together by lead strips, were especially popular in Europe in the period between 1150 and 1550, when they were a prominent feature of cathedrals and other churches as well as city halls and homes for the elite.  

Its translucent qualities made stained glass especially popular in religious contexts where large windows with scenes from the bible and the lives of saints could animate a saved space with colourful glimmering lights, and subtly change the atmosphere depending on the tie of day, and the changing of the seasons. 

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I see it is going to be very hot next week, a heatwave on Monday and Tuesday.  This kind of weather does not suit me at all.   I shut all the curtains and blinds, put on the fans and spend the time reading and doing a jigsaw puzzle.  Mary gave me the puzzle for Christmas this year and I am doing it again for the third time.  I like doing the same puzzle over and over again, I don't why this is the case, but it is a fact nevertheless.

                                                                                

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From Dorothy Wordsworth     June 20th  1802  in Westmorland

'We lay upon the sloping turf.   Earth and sky were so lovely that they melted our very hearts.  The sky to the north was of a chastened yet rich yellow, fading into pale blue and streaked and scattered over with a steady islands of purple, melting away into shades of pink.  It made my heart almost feel like a vision to me.' 

From William Cowper    June 21st  1784 in Buckinghamshire

'We have now frosty mornings, and so cold a wind, that even at high noon we have been obliged to break off our walk in the southern side of the garden and seek shelter, I in the greenhouse, and Mrs. Unwin by the fireside.  Haymaking begins here to-morrow.' 

 

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Moment

 

The church is cool from summer sun,

organ music plays.

 

We walk down the aisle

enjoy the scent of lilies

filling the holy air

point out ruby stained glass windows

depicting Christ on the cross,

examine oak and stone carvings

plaster heads of saints

the altar cloth rich in green and gold.

 

He runs up the pulpit steps

says a few words in Latin.

I laugh

then we kneel together in a back pew

say a prayer.

 

He takes my hand.

 

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With best wishes, Patricia