beyond composition

The very first of Anne.

greeting Anne

At 05:40 BST labor was in full swing and everyone was up doing their part. Both midwives were in attendance and mom was in the thick of it. Dad was off taking pictures with Helen. Finally, after five hours of labor, Anne Beatrice arrived at 7:14. Good morning.

recreation

Un-cut footage of this Sunday's evening ruckus. Thank you, Ladwigs, for our wardrobe. April 20th, here we come!

st. etheldreda

Our pilgrimage parish of St. Ethedreda is in the borough of Camden where I work. Nearby Charterhouse Street is named for the Carthusian abbey that was desecrated during the reformation, the remains of which are just up the road. Their buildings were appropriated by the crown long ago, and have formed part of a local NHS facility for some time. The local area is called Ely Place because the entire vicinity once belonged to the bishops of Ely. St. Etheldreda's was their private chapel. Now it is just ours.

springtime

Quicks Road Park has greened dramatically. Two months ago it was covered in snow. Last month it was still bare and chilly, and only footballers would venture out on to the grass. Suddenly there are new leaves on everything, even the trees. This afternoon, finally, the park was full of families enjoying the local microclimate. We did some enjoying too.

By her own initiative, Helen becomes more adventurous in walking as her strength and coordination increase. We just add this to the list of things she knows without being taught. It is funny, though, that she has not been interested in standing at all. Thus far, bipedism has only appealed to her as a mode of travel. Personality.

On Thursday we attended an ante-natal refresher class at the local hospital. It was largely uninformative, which hopefully means that we are well prepared. The next Zamora approaches.

No photo for this, but this week we learned about a book called Planet Narnia, an Oxford scholar's study of the symbolic structure underlying the Chronicles of Narnia. Really cool. Fans of Lewis, cosmology, humanism, Christian literature, etc., click here: http://www.planetnarnia.com/

See you soon.

thanks, no thanks

When you cast your squash upon the floor, you must always check and make sure that it stays put, that it remains on the floor exactly where you threw it, which is where it belongs.

late

This morning's train was cancelled at the last minute and I was a quarter of an hour late for work. Tonight's train home was delayed by over an hour while a trespasser on the track ahead of Loughborough Junction was apprehended. Transport for London.

one hundred and fifty times happy

Gratuitous enjoyment of bread, butter, and jam - if you have the stomach.

Happy Easter

We came home from vigil mass at 1 AM this morning. The city was dark and quiet, though the transport is never either. We spent most of mass in the crypt, as Helen had a more difficult time than we anticipated. Her interest in the sounds and the lights got the better of her all night. But once she found her bed she was all right, and this morning she was quite herself again.

Today we rest. Happy Easter all.

11 April 2009

Yesterday sank from fair to foul, today is damp and cold. Good Friday is a bank holiday, as is Easter Monday. We are at St. Etheldreda's Church in Smithfields, the only pre-reformation church in Great Britain restored to Catholic worship. Yesterday Helen and I arrived to the stations just in time to be asked by father to read the sixth. At tonight's vigil a new organ will be christened in candlelight. Helen may not sleep much.

During this great pause of Holy Saturday, we relate some notes of late:

Two weeks ago Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris introduced a bill in the House of Commons to lift the ban on Catholics from Royal Marriage. The bill also called for ending the absolute priority of male heirs over females. Though it doesn't look like it will go far, the unepected and broad support it generated leads many to expect substantial reform in the future. For now, Harris's bill seems to have devolved into another opportunity for the British to enjoy the finer points about their own administration. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7968853.stm

During the G20 summit, we got two protocol-breaking glimpses of the queen.First she allowed Michelle Obama http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7982702.stm to embrace the royal persona. Then she dispalyed irritation at Silvio Berlusconi's hijinks http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7980912.stm. Perhaps Hellen Mirren's portrayal wasn't just sentiment after all.

Lost in all the hubbub, however, was the heraldry surrounding the Mexican State Visit, which overlapped the summit and which is thought to have triggered much less protest. As we beheld Buckingham beset by the eagle and the cactus, we beamed with americo-hispano-anglican joy.

Finally in the news, Westminster has a new Archbishop. Fr. Vincent Nichols has finally been installed as Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's successor. Pray for him, as the coverage of his installation shows he is up against some great challenges. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7824628.stm

As for us.

Last Wednesday we passed the Home Birth threshold - Miriam is now far along that she will not have to deliver in hospital. There has been much rejoicing.

Not to be upstaged, Helen is preparing for baby by making advances of her own. First, she finally overcame the four inch drop at the door threshold and crawled out of the apartment on her own steam. Second, she has begun walking. True, this often takes the form of a controlled fall, but if this is what astronauts call "landing" the space shuttle, then we feel justified in our designation.

Today we are making Easter eggs in the traditional Polish way, with red onion peels and vinegar. If they come out well, we'll post photos. It occurs to me that I don't know any Mexican Easter traditions. Not surprising since my father grew up in a persecuted church, and I grew up in the USA. But hopefully we'll learn something before next Easter comes around.

Hope all are well. Will be in touch.