DOCSLIB.ORG

Have a Happy Pentecost Whitsun!

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Have a Happy Pentecost Whitsun! Have a Happy Pentecost Whitsun! Those of a certain age will remember what was called Whitsun, (Whit Sunday, Whit Weekend or Whit Week). Whitsun was one of the three major festivals in the Christian year, marking the giving of Gods Holy Spirit to his people after Jesus had returned to Heaven. Along with Christmas and Easter it was one of the Grand Slams of Christian events, celebrated nationally with a Bank Holiday until 1971. Indeed in 32 countries, including Belgium and Germany, it still is a Bank Holiday. The word Whitsun may come from the fact that centuries ago people dressed in white for Baptism, but more likely it comes from the old English word ‘wit’ meaning understanding. This connects with the fact that one of the Holy Spirits functions is to help people come to understand the things of God. Since the Bank Holiday was rescheduled to a regular slot on the last Monday in May Whitsun appears to have been forgotten. Churches still celebrate it under its more universal name of Pentecost (Pente is 50, marking 50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus), but as a nation it has been forgotten. I guess this should not be a major surprise as so many things associated with the faith have been marginalised in our much more secularised society. You won’t be surprised to hear that for me this is a great shame. The Holy Spirit is Gods gift to humanity until that time when all things are renewed in a new Heaven and a New Earth. Until that day God’s promise is to remain with us through thick and thin bringing wisdom, comfort, consolation, understanding, insight and the capacity to love one another as God loves us. Who I ask, would not want help with all that? Just one more thing needs to be said and that is the freedom to choose that God gives us. The promise of the Holy Spirit for our lives is real enough, but we have to choose to want the gift. According to Jesus the way to do that is simply to ask! So a very happy Pentecost season to everyone and don’t forget … just ask and you might well be surprised. News Letter Brigstock, Lowick, Stanion and Sudborough Sunday 27th May 2018 – Trinity Sunday ~ Celebrating Pentecost at Todays Services ~ Services Today Holy Communion All Age worship 09.30 a.m. St Andrews Brigstock 11.00 a.m. St Peters Lowick 5.00 p.m. St Peters Stanion Services on Sunday 3rd June 2018. Holy Communion 09.30 a.m. All Saints Sudborough 11.00 a.m. St Peters Stanion Services on Sunday 10th June 2018. Holy Communion Evening Prayer 09.30 a.m. St Andrews Brigstock 11.00 a.m. St Peters Lowick 5.00 p.m. St Peters Stanion Services on Sunday 17th June 2018. Holy Communion All Age Worship 09.30 a.m. All Saints Sudborough 11.00 a.m. St Peters Stanion St Peters Lowick If you normally take Holy Communion in your own church you are welcome to receive Communion in any of the churches in the Benefice. If you would prefer a blessing please bring this sheet with you as you kneel at the altar rail. Weekday Services Monday 28th May 2018 to Saturday 2nd June 2018 Tuesday 29th May 09.15 a.m. Holy Communion All Saints Sudborough Thursday 31st May 10.00 a.m. Holy Communion St Andrews Brigstock Please Pray for: Congratulations to Alice and Freya Singlehurst on their Baptism last Sunday, on the day of Pentecost. Please pray for them, as they are welcomed into God’s family and Church that they might know God’s love and care. Congratulations to Paula and Ian on their marriage at St Andrew’s, Brigstock on the 18th May. We pray they will enjoy a long and happy life together. Please also remember them in your prayers. Congratulations to Carmen and Vasile on their marriage at St. Peter’s, Lowick on the 25th May. We pray that they also will enjoy a long and happy life together. Please remember them in your prayers. The Sick: Jenna May, Colin Bright, Stan Druce, Ginny Jehu, Susan Carsberg, Rhiannon Seatton, Wendy Adderley, Jayne Pearson. This Years Mind: Ken Douglas 2004, Albert Blundell 2017, Mary Harrison 1997, Hon. George Sackville Germain 1836, Norman Chalmers 1993 Parish Notes Rector: The Reverend Heather Lowe Associate Minister (Church Army): Captain Alan Lowe, Telephone: 01536 263550 Address: 14 Willow Lane, Stanion, Northamptonshire, NN14 1DT (Please note that The Reverend Lowe and Captain Lowe’s day off is Monday so if you do not get a response from them on that day please do not be offended. If it is urgent leave a message and they will get back to you as soon as they are able, alternatively contact your churchwarden or Allison Porter the Benefice Administrator. ) Reader – Jackie Makepeace Telephone: 01832 358978 Churchwarden Contact telephone numbers: Lowick – Edna Hallifax 01832 733267 Sudborough – David Sparks 01832 730039 Brigstock – Carl Hector 01536 373410 Stanion – David Lafferty 01536 200175 Benefice Administrator – Allison Porter email: [email protected] or telephone 01536 373509 ~~~~ Lowick: Hamlet – 14 June at 7 p.m. If the weather is fine the play will be in the field next to the church – bring your own picnic rugs, chairs, picnics etc. If the weather is bad the play will be in St Peter’s Church. Tickets and further information from 07894 698988 / [email protected] / www.threeinchfools.com. £12.50 for adults £8 for under 16’s £40 for a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children) Brigstock: Summer Fete -This year’s joint summer fete for St Andrews Church and Brigstock Primary School will be on Saturday 30th June. Please start collecting items for bric-a-brac, tombola, and bottle stall. Cakes will also be needed on the day. All offers of help will be much appreciated. One of the raffle prizes will be a ‘barrow of booze’ all donations will be gratefully received. For further information please contact Lesley Blakeley 01536 373547. Craft and Chatter – The next craft and chatter will be on Monday 4th June hosted by Peggy Adams. Please feel free to come along with your craft project for a cup of tea/coffee with cake. Stanion: Well done St Peters, Stanion on your fund raising from the Corby Male Voice Choir Concert. Nearly £400. Good result! Stanion: Stanion village fete on the 23 June in the school and village hall. St Peter's will be having a couple of stalls and need tombola prizes and people to help on the day. For further information please contact Jackie Makepeace on 01832 358978 or [email protected] Future Events: Brigstock - Belcanto Female Voice Choir – At St Andrews church – unfortunately the date for this event has had to be re-arranged for later in the year. Details will be published in due course. The choir sings a wide range of music covering all styles and periods, including classical and contemporary works, gospel and musicals, both a capella and accompanied by their pianist. The members love singing and aim to bring joy to all those who come to their concerts, always striving to uphold the tradition of Bel Canto (Italian for ‘beautiful singing’). Time to be confirmed, tickets will be £10 per person including refreshments If you would like to ask for prayers, add to the weekly notices or to have this sheet emailed to you contact your churchwardens or Allison Porter on 01536 373509, [email protected] or [email protected] Entries need to be with Allison by Thursday evening to ensure they will be included in the next News Letter Reading for Sunday 27th May. Ezekiel 37:1-14 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) The Valley of Dry Bones 37 The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath[a] to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath[b] in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.” 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath:[c] Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath,[d] and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • CARNIVAL and OTHER SEASONAL FESTIVALS in the West Indies, USA and Britain
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by SAS-SPACE CARNIVAL AND OTHER SEASONAL FESTIVALS in the West Indies, U.S.A. and Britain: a selected bibliographical index by John Cowley First published as: Bibliographies in Ethnic Relations No. 10, Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, September 1991, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL John Cowley has published many articles on blues and black music. He produced the Flyright- Matchbox series of LPs and is a contributor to the Blackwell Guide To Blues Records, and Black Music In Britain (both edited by Paul Oliver). He has produced two LPs of black music recorded in Britain in the 1950s, issued by New Cross Records. More recently, with Dick Spottswood, he has compiled and produced two LPs devoted to early recordings of Trinidad Carnival music, issued by Matchbox Records. His ‗West Indian Gramophone Records in Britain: 1927-1950‘ was published by the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations. ‗Music and Migration,‘ his doctorate thesis at the University of Warwick, explores aspects of black music in the English-speaking Caribbean before the Independence of Jamaica and Trinidad. (This selected bibliographical index was compiled originally as an Appendix to the thesis.) Contents Introduction 4 Acknowledgements 7 How to use this index 8 Bibliographical index 9 Bibliography 24 Introduction The study of the place of festivals in the black diaspora to the New World has received increased attention in recent years. Investigations range from comparative studies to discussions of one particular festival at one particular location. It is generally assumed that there are links between some, if not all, of these events.
    [Show full text]
  • Opportunities for Recreation in Pre-Industrial Times
    Opportunities for Recreation in Pre-Industrial times The working life of a peasant was long and hard, but there were many holidays: Most holidays were determined by the church holy days. At Christmas there were twelve days of leisure and recreation until the twelfth night, a week at Easter and time off at Whitsun. There were occasional breaks from work – wakes, fairs, mops, market days, weddings, funerals. Depending on the type of holiday, certain entertainments and food were provided by the church or Lord of the Manor. Laws dictated that young men practised their archery but many ignored that and played ball games instead. Gambling was a means of getting rich quick so lots of activities allowed the opportunity for gambling: cock fighting, bare-knuckle boxing, bear-baiting. In the Middle Ages, leisure time was something for the whole community: everyone joined in: the pub was a gathering place for gambling, drinking, courtship, gossip and playing games. Weekly markets allowed people to trade – a meeting place for town and country people: a chance to buy and sell goods – just like modern markets and boot sales ! The village square was transformed on market days: entertainments and leisure activities were laid on: bull baiting, bear baiting, games, contests, rides, cock fighting, smock races for women, jugglers, musicians, puppet shows !! Local Wakes • The churches of small rural towns and villages in Britain all have a foundation (veneration) day, to honour the Patron Saint of the church. These special days became local holidays ‘holydays’, whereby a visit to church was followed by a festival.
    [Show full text]
  • Thinking Aloud Ix This Monday Is Whit Monday. Many People Will Hardly
    Thinking aloud ix This Monday is Whit Monday. Many people will hardly remember it since the Spring Bank Holiday replaced it. Whit Monday was the first Bank Holiday granted in 1871, Christmas Day and Easter Monday were added. This Sunday is Whitsunday, the New Testament reminds us of the help and support given to us by God in His Holy Spirit. It was a very popular day for Baptism when white is traditionally worn, hence Whit or White Sunday. It’s a forward looking festival, God’s support for all we are doing and going to do. Lockdown is being relaxed a little on this Whit Monday, but life remains with a need for caution. We must remember that there are many who are still advised to self-isolate, there are many others who remain cautious for various reasons and will not be rushing out to the shops to buy the latest treat from Birds’. As we look toward to a more normal future it is important we continue to support the elderly and the vulnerable, we maintain our new friendships with neighbours and treasure close relationships with family and friends again. We still need to support in our prayers the NHS and carers and everyone who restlessly works to keep life normal for us. There are still thousands who are bereaved. The message of Whitsun is living with the support of the hand of the Creator God as we remember we are hopefully moving slowly beyond Coronavirus with enhanced compassion, support, and encouragement for all we meet. Last weekend saw another important celebration, that of our Muslim friends, the keeping of Eid.
    [Show full text]
  • This Month, May, Sunday 10Am Worship at St James Point Lonsdale (June at St George’S Queenscliff)
    THIS MONTH, MAY, SUNDAY 10AM WORSHIP AT ST JAMES POINT LONSDALE (JUNE AT ST GEORGE’S QUEENSCLIFF) Dear people of St George's and St James', A book that I keep coming back to around this “Pentecost” time of year is “The Go-Between God”, first published in 1973 by Bishop John V. Taylor. Some of his words: “...the primary effect of the Pentecost experience was to fuse the individuals of the company into a fellowship which in the same moment was caught up into the life of the risen Lord. In a new awareness of Him and of one another they burst into praise, and the world came running for an explanation. In other words, the gift of the Holy Spirit in the fellowship of the church first enables Christians to “be”. And only as a consequence of that sends them to do and to speak”. I suppose that these days we don't often see people “”running to us for an explanation”” about who we are and what we believe ! But we do need to be alert to welcome and support those (often shy) “searchers” who might , from time to time, ask us tricky questions... or even drift into our church services. • Let us be confident and know that as the Holy Spirit dwells in us we will be given the right words and the right actions appropriate to the occasion. Please feel free to contact me by phone or email if there is anything I can do for you whilst Peter is on leave. Tim Gibson – ph.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Pentecost (Or Whitsun)?
    What is Pentecost (or Whitsun)? Pentecost is a Christian holy day that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit 40 days after Easter. Some Christian denominations consider it the birthday of the Christian church and celebrate it as such. Originally, Pentecost was a Jewish holiday held 50 days after Passover. One of three major feasts during the Jewish year, it celebrated Thanksgiving for harvested crops. However, Pentecost for Christians means something far different. Before Jesus was crucified, he told his disciples that the Holy Spirit would come after him: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:16–18 And 40 days after Jesus was resurrected (10 days after he ascended into heaven), that promise was fulfilled when Peter and the early Church were in Jerusalem for Pentecost: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1–4 Although many North American Christians hardly notice Pentecost today, traditional European churches consider it a major feast day.
    [Show full text]
  • English Folk Traditions and Changing Perceptions About Black People in England
    Trish Bater 080207052 ‘Blacking Up’: English Folk Traditions and Changing Perceptions about Black People in England Submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy by Patricia Bater National Centre for English Cultural Tradition March 2013 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. Trish Bater 080207052 2 Abstract This thesis investigates the custom of white people blacking their faces and its continuation at a time when society is increasingly aware of accusations of racism. To provide a context, an overview of the long history of black people in England is offered, and issues about black stereotypes, including how ‘blackness’ has been perceived and represented, are considered. The historical use of blackface in England in various situations, including entertainment, social disorder, and tradition, is described in some detail. It is found that nowadays the practice has largely been rejected, but continues in folk activities, notably in some dance styles and in the performance of traditional (folk) drama. Research conducted through participant observation, interview, case study, and examination of web-based resources, drawing on my long familiarity with the folk world, found that participants overwhelmingly believe that blackface is a part of the tradition they are following and is connected to its past use as a disguise. However, although all are aware of the sensitivity of the subject, some performers are fiercely defensive of blackface, while others now question its application and amend their ‘disguise’ in different ways.
    [Show full text]
  • 24 May 2015 10:15 Am
    THE DAY OF PENTECOST: WHITSUNDAY 24 MAY 2015 THE CHORAL HOLY EUCHARIST RITE II 10:15 AM St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church 500 South Country Road • Bay Shore, New York 11706 Phone 631-665-0051 Fax 631-665-0052 www.stpetersbayshore.org — 1 — THE CHORAL HOLY EUCHARIST: RITE II THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, P. 355 THE WORD OF GOD Voluntary: Little Partita for Pentecost James Woodman Hymn at the Procession The Hymnal 1982, #225 Hail thee, festival day! Salve festa dies The Opening Acclamation Celebrant Alleluia. Christ is risen. People The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia. The Collect for Purity The Book of Common Prayer, p. 355 The Song of Praise The Hymnal 1982, S 279 Glory to God in the highest Gerald Near The Collect of the Day Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gos- pel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. The Lessons The First Lesson: Acts 2:1-21 When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all to- gether in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, ap- peared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
    [Show full text]
  • The Festival of Whitsun Is a Serious Admonition Every Year, to the Spirit
    FESTIVAL OF WHI T SUN Sunday, May 23, 2021 Acts: 2: 1-4. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Festival of the higher self and the universal human being Festival of the Holy Spirit Festival of Flowers Festival of United Soul Endeavor and spirit community Festival of the purified astral body - the lifting out of one’s egotism into universal caring - out of opinion into truth - out of opinion into wisdom Festival of the human unbound from materialism Excerpts from Emil Bock Whitsun: Festival of the Future Holy Spirit – Healing Spirit and The Festival of United Soul-Endeavor Rudolf Steiner June 7, 1908 Whitsuntide: Festival of the Liberation of the Human Spirit Rudolf Steiner May 23, 1904 “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” Whitsun: Festival of the Future Emil Bock 1992 The Rhythm of the Christian Year (Excerpts) The Whitsun festival is not bestowed on us by nature. It busy external circumstances… Of course, there were sects that must be uncovered out of the innermost reaches of our soul. It spoke of the Holy Spirit but their pronouncements were only is the festival of the future, for the Holy Spirit, which we hope caricatures of what lived within the quiet mystic, esoteric touches us at Whitsun, it is always that which is not yet in circles of Christendom.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 Continental Attractions Domestic Solutions
    CHAPTER 2 CONTINENTAL ATTRACTIONS DOMESTIC SOLUTIONS 2.1 Introduction Buildings should never be viewed in isolation from social and economic changes that operate locally, nationally and internationally. The reason why the Summerland project came to the drawing board in the 1960s can be explained by these changes (section 2.3). Before considering these changes, it is appropriate to provide a brief history of the site before construction work on Summerland began in October 1968. 2.2 Derby Castle and Manx Tourism before 1945 Historically, the site occupied by Summerland and the adjoining Aquadrome swimming baths from 1969-2006 had always been known as Derby Castle. Indeed, the re-development of the site in the 1960s was always referred to as the Derby Castle Development Scheme. This is also the place name used on the architects’ plans for Summerland, which can be viewed in the Manx National Heritage Library in Douglas. Summerland was a name invented to sell a revolutionary design construct: it has architectural symbolism (chapter 3) but no historical context. Derby Castle was at the northern end of Douglas Promenade. The first building on the site of Summerland was built around 1790 for the Seventh Duke of Atholl (Kelly, 1972). The castellated structure (hence the name Derby Castle) was a retreat for the Island’s ruler as well as a fishing 83 lodge. With Castletown being the Island’s capital at the time, Derby Castle was a backwater not even linked by road to Douglas. In the 1830s, Derby Castle was sold to Major Pollock, a Lancashire businessman. From the late 18th century to 1880, the number of tourists visiting the Isle of Man from mainland Britain was low and mainly confined to upper- class professionals from Lancashire.
    [Show full text]
  • THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY REVIEW a Journal of Regional Studies
    SPRING 2018 THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY REVIEW A Journal of Regional Studies The Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College is supported by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This issue of The Hudson River Valley Review has been generously underwritten by the following: Peter Bienstock THE POUGHKEEpsIE GRAND HOTEL SHAWANGUNK VALLEY AND CONFERENCE CENTER …centrally located in the Historic Hudson Valley CONSERVANCY midway between NYC and Albany… Conservation • Preservation • Education www.pokgrand.com From the Editors Welcome to our bigger, and more expansive, issue of The Hudson River Valley Review. As well as the enlarged format, we’ve widened the publication’s scope to accommodate more than 300 years of history. And while the topics covered in this issue might be broadly familiar, each essay offers details that reveal refreshing new insight. While the origins and evolution of Pinkster may be debatable, its celebration in seventeenth-century New Netherland offered an opportunity for residents—including enslaved African Americans—to relax, enjoy and express themselves. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, a French emigrant farmer drafted chapters of a book describing his new home in Orange County. These now-classic recollections would not be published until after he had been accused of disloyalty and chased out of the country. His eventual return—and the story of his trials and travels—is the stuff of cinema. In the early nineteenth century, another globetrotting writer, Washington Irving, helped to mold the young nation with his fiction and biographies. But the story of Irving’s own life is best conveyed at Sunnyside, his Westchester home, now preserved as a museum.
    [Show full text]
  • The Colours of the Church Year a Guide for Schools 2020
    Diocesan Education Team Advent Christ the Christmas Day King Christmas Ordinary TIme Epiphany Trinity The Colours of the Sunday Church Year Ordinary Pentecost A guide for schools Time 2020 - 2021 Easter Lent Easter Palm Sunday & Sunday Maundy Holy Week Thursday* The Colours of the Church Year: a guide for schools 2020-21 Diocesan Education Team The Anglican Church Year Anglican churches follow a liturgical calendar. This is a pattern for their worship (liturgy) through the year. As a church school, this provides an ideal opportunity to mirror what is happening in your parish / local church. It also provides a colourful and visual way to mark the festivals throughout the year. Most churches will use different coloured vestments (a priest’s clothing) and altar cloths as signs of the season of the church year. In school this can mirrored through simply changing the colour of cloth on the worship table, or theme a whole display using the relevant colours. Soon you will find that the children recognise the colours and their meaning, that when they enter the worship space they will notice the colours have changed and begin to make links between the seasons and the festivals throughout the year. The meaning of the colours (dates are coloured on the attached calendar) Green Used during ‘Ordinary time’ between the main festivals and seasons. This covers most of the year and can represent growth. Used to either mark saints’ days where it represents their death as a martyr, or to represent the flames of the Holy Spirit (for Red Pentecost / Whitsun). Represents being pure, in celebrations such as baptisms, weddings, and some funerals.
    [Show full text]
  • The Whitsun Weddings
    Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com The Whitsun Weddings something of fearful religious importance. Pretty soon we left SUMMARY the guests behind—though we had internalized all their perspectives—and raced towards London, the train blowing fits It was Whitsun Saturday and I left late. It was a sunny day and of steam. The environment grew more urbanized, fields giving my train departed around 1:20, almost completely empty. The way to plots of land being developed, and I noticed poplar trees windows were open due to the stifling heat, even the seat casting shadows over the roads. cushions were hot, and everything felt very slow. Out of the window I saw the backs of houses, the glare of windshields, and In that fifty minutes or so, which was just long enough to get I could smell the fish-dock. We rode beside the wide, flat, slow comfortable and reflect on the wedding, all of these new river, zooming through the Lincolnshire countryside. marriages got started. The newly-weds gazed out of the window, crammed into the carriage. A cinema, a cooling tower, The train kept its steady course all through the hot afternoon, and a cricket game were all visible from the window. I don't as we traveled south and inland. We passed big farms with think any of the different couples thought about the people cows whose shadows were small under the high sun, and canals they would never meet now that they were married, or how full of industrial waste. I saw a greenhouse, and hedges rising they all were sharing this first hour of their respective and falling.
    [Show full text]