The Games - part 2

Victoria Park, August 2022

While all that badminton stuff was going on at the Commonwealth Games, or 'Birmingham 2022' as it was known in the press and on all the logos, Lolatastic life continued apace. There was a bike service, a comedy gig, a stay in hospital, visitors to Lola Towers, the putting up and taking down of the Lola Towers garden extension (aka the tent), a trip to Lockwoods outdoor supplies shop, Ukrainian news, and the Games in Leamington Spa.

On that last subject I would like to direct your attention to two articles in the press. The first article is the more staid, traditional form of reportage by the staid, traditional BBC, especially notable for the quote from the 'general manager' of Pub Next Door. I put his role in quotation marks because to me he seems little more than a teenager, but I expect he's at least 30. The second article is from The Guardian and is much more amusing but no less accurate for that. Bowling in Leamington Spa has never felt more exciting. I happened to pass the main entrance at one point, where I encountered a very jolly volunteer with a megaphone sitting atop a high chair, whose job was to welcome spectators to the park by shouting interesting information about Lawn Bowls and the Commonwealth Games in years gone by.

I've already described some of the disruption in my local area, but that was during preparations leading up to the start. When the event actually began the level of security escalated enormously, particularly at the end of the road, where a number of the huge lens-shaped obstructions that I've seen protecting Parliament were installed a couple of days before the start, and then additionally a large and heavy horizontal barrier was constructed. I regret not taking pictures (I was too busy and kept forgetting), but as well as the orange-and-grey-clad volunteers there were stewards and security in hi-vis, Army chaps in camouflage, ordinary uniformed coppers and policemen WITH GUNS, all milling about at the end of the road as visitors arrived with their tickets for the bowling and residents wandered through with pushchairs and shopping bags and dogs.

My first guests (JW+JD) arrived by car as they were stopping on the way to their holiday in Cornwall, and I made sure to be at the barrier brandishing my resident's credentials otherwise they would have been turned away by a ruthless official in hi-vis jacket. Later in the week I received one of my frequent incorrect delivery attempts (intended for a house in the Road instead of the Street) from an Asda delivery man, wearing an Asda shirt and carrying heavy trays of Asda groceries whose Asda van had not been allowed past the barrier so had to deliver it all by hand.

The evening that the first guests arrived was also the evening that dad was taken to hospital with sepsis. Lola II just happened to be visiting at the time, so she was able to go with him and make sure all was well. He was in hospital for nearly two weeks, but home now.

JW+JD had tickets for the Rugby Sevens, Squash, Badminton, Cricket and Athletics; the next guests to arrive were Lola II and Cousin Y who had tickets for Hockey and were accompanied by Mr M who didn't have tickets for anything. I took up the residents' offer of free tickets for Lawn Bowls so he went to that. JW+JD headed off for Cornwall, Cousin Y went back to London, Lola II and Mr M had an extra night before they went home and then Mr MXF and BL2 arrived ready for Cycling, Diving, Athletics and Lawn Bowls courtesy of another pair of free tickets. By the time they all went home the house seemed very quiet.

While all this was going on, I was also in communication with Ukraine Jane 2, who is from Kherson but taking refuge in Poland. We introduced ourselves to one another, had a short conversation via WhatsApp, applied for the visa, the visa was granted and we worked out when and how she would get here, all within the space of just 8 days. Then two days later she announced she wasn't coming here after all but going to Slovakia for family reasons. And then, the very next day, the first UJ (the one with the cat) got back in touch to ask if the room was still available. I'll be speaking to her soon to find out her current situation.

The only other event of note was the visit to Lockwoods where Lola II wanted to buy some proper waterproof walking boots. Not only did we confuse the shop assistant by both of us being called Lola, but aside from the boot purchase the most notable aspect of the visit was that despite being over 50 years old, Lola II and I learned how to tie our shoelaces in a useful new way.

The Games - part 1

End of first shift, Commonwealth Games, July 2022

Before the day that competition started, I was listed for two days of Venue Specific Training and induction to the role, at the actual location for the badminton in the NEC. Information about this was slow to arrive, especially as the train strike meant that plans probably had to be amended at the last minute, but thanks to an email the previous evening I got to the car park where I intended to park in good time, which is no mean feat at the NEC.

It was a long walk from the car park to the first queue, which was for the accreditation to enter the venue. The next queue was for airport-style screening, where they only had one gate in action to start with. Then they announced to the long line of people that they had opened a second gate, but didn't have any more of the trays so it didn't speed up all that much. That got us inside the security fence, but it was still another long walk to get to the assembly point for us volunteers, where we started to line up for our lunch tickets but were told we should just go and sit in the break area where there were hot drinks and biscuits for us. A bit later we were asked to line up again for our lunch tickets, and then immediately told sorry, could you sit down again?

As you can imagine, this gave those people who love to complain a great deal to complain about, as well as the train strike, parking, the uniform and everything else that was actually working very well considering the size of the enterprise. This was fairly useful in that I could easily identify the people to keep away from. By this method I was hanging out in the break area when I discovered sitting next to me one of the nicest badminton players in a club where I was a member ten years ago.

There seemed to be about 50 volunteers for the badminton, and after we'd been hanging around for some more time they took half of us from the break area to the hall where the competition would take place and we received our training from a team whose first language was not English and who were wearing masks. In fact, they told us we would all be wearing masks on court. But thankfully the main trainer took his mask off, and there were written help sheets, and a presentation and videos, and we went through all the technology and could have a short practice.

The role involves two of us at a time sitting at a table at the side of the court watching the play. One person uses a laptop and the other one has pen and paper. The pen and paper role is the more straightforward: first you note who is serving, then you count the strokes in the rally, then you note down what the score is, and repeat.

The tech role involves much more, and what we do is sent directly to broadcasters, so there is an element of jeopardy too. The majority of the time it is similarly just counting strokes and noting the score, but there are additional responsibilities when old shuttlecocks are exchanged for new, if a Service Fault is called (when the serve starts above the waist), if any penalties are applied (yellow and red cards and disqualification), and if a Video Review is requested. This last is the most terrifying, because we have to record which team requested the review and whether it is successful or unsuccessful, and it is very easy to become confused about these things in the heat of the moment.

Our trainers reassured us that should anything go wrong we just raise our hands and they will instantly be at our sides, but it was still a bit terrifying, especially for the very first shift. My first shift was with someone who'd done it the previous day, and he worked the laptop while I was on pen and paper. It still took two of us when the video reviews happened, because we had to look at a screen that was not facing us and the result came up very small and difficult to see.

My shift pattern kept changing, but in the end I did five shifts on the courtside desk and attended six badminton sessions and one table tennis session as a spectator, sometimes in the company of friends, sometimes on my own. The table tennis was very interesting - it's much faster paced than badminton and much more difficult to see what's going on, and without any experience of the game I didn't appreciate what must be immense skill among the players. I sat near some helpful people who explained the bits that I didn't immediately understand (why they make such a performance out of serving, why the umpire kept raising his hand, how does the order of serving work...)

And to finish this first part of my account, a snap of the England badminton team at the end of the team event.

The Games approach

Victoria Park, view from the Avenue Road entrance, July 2022

We are well into the period within which I have committed to doing much more than I should. I have most of the day 'free' today before I go to my next shift of volunteering (of which more later) so today will be full of all the things that have been postponed, including blogging. And pictures of the local preparations for the Commonwealth Games (CG) bowling.

View from Archery road (which will be obscured when they finish the stands)

While I was away camping and retreating there was a mini-drama about my very exciting CG uniform. I had been notified that it might be delivered while I was away, and that the delivery company would only hand it over in person, so I used the contact form to indicate when I wouldn't be there and asked that it might not be delivered during that time. The first response was that I would receive a notification and then have the opportunity to change the date, but I pointed out that while offline I wouldn't receive the notification. The next response was that my requirements had been passed onto the relevant team.

Then I received two emails on the same day from the delivery company, during the period I'd said I was unavailable for delivery, the first at 11.59 to say that the uniform would be delivered and the second at 13.30 to say that it had been delivered. I messaged the CG contact, and received the reply that they are very busy at the moment but will get onto it as soon as possible. When I got home there was a note from a lovely neighbour who had seen the box on my doorstep, i.e. on the pavement outside my house, and when it was (miraculously) still there next morning they took it inside. Eventually the CG team got back to me to say that the delivery company were still claiming that it was handed over in person. So all's well that ends well, but I wouldn't recommend that anyone uses Yodel.

View of Archery Road from the river walk

The Garage Door Man came round, straightened the bits of the lock that were bent during the attempted break-in (which means the door now locks properly again), and we had a very confusing conversation indeed about all the different options for updating the ancient mechanism. Eventually, when I realised I hadn't understood any of the options, I asked him what he would do. He found it equally hard to decide, and went away to find out whether my garage door was a standard size or not, which would influence other decisions. I await developments with low expectations.

Ongoing stand construction

Lola II and I had another great day out in Oxford, which is a convenient distance for both of us to meet, but which is terribly deficient in cake supply. After checking out the Weston Library exhibitions - this time they were about the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb and the different sensory experiences of books - we went to the University Botanic Garden. This ought to be the perfect setting for Lemon Drizzle by the river but instead it has a tiny coffee stand with no more than a flapjack or two. Not that I'm eating cake at the moment - the very exciting Commonwealth Games trousers are a little tight around the middle...

The next day contained the second lot of periodontal surgery in the morning, and a badminton club dinner in the evening, which I attended to say hello but left when the food arrived. The surgery this time was more extensive and involved the lower jaw, which the periodontist warned me would be worse than the previous one, and  indeed it is. A week later and I'm still feeling rather delicate and sore, and very much hoping that it will be worth it. I'll find out in three months' time.

No left turn

There have been other trips and calls and activities, but the two other matters worth reporting are the local preparations for the Commonwealth Games and my volunteering at the Warwick Folk Festival.

The CG construction teams moved into the park and the local streets just over a week ago. They put up the perimeter barriers, which contain about half of the area of the park and extend into the streets, removing about half the parking spots for the residents of our three streets. Detailed plans have been drawn up to give us all alternative places to park nearby as well as the option to book slots for deliveries and carers, and although I have the convenience of the garage I think it is no more than mildly inconvenient for most people, and will only last for one month. One neighbour is not so phlegmatic and is incensed by the whole thing; I have frequently seen his car parked in areas that have been allocated for other purposes.

Pedestrian access only to houses at the park end of Archery Road

Anyway, it all kicks off in a week's time, and I'm sure it will be very interesting to see how the spectators are managed when arriving and departing and how much more inconvenient it may become. In the meantime I have started my volunteering role at the Warwick Folk Festival, which is taking place in the grounds of Warwick Castle, in a field next to the Castle's overflow parking. My job for the first two days during set-up has been to manage the main gate which has a narrow approach allowing traffic in only one direction at a time. I have been stationed at the far end of this approach with a walky-talky which I use when vehicles arrive to check that nothing is coming the other way.

My first shift was for four hours during the hottest part of the heatwave we have just endured. Luckily someone had a chair for me to use, but I had assumed I would be working with other people so I hadn't brought a book. There was hardly any traffic at all, so I mostly sat very still in the shade with my eyes closed, and it wasn't too bad, and certainly easy compared with those who were building stages and constructing lighting rigs. The second shift was in the same spot, and I had brought my own chair and a book, but there was much more traffic so very little time to sit and read - the overflow parking was in use so I was dealing with visitors to the Castle as well as traffic for the festival. My remaining two shifts will be in the Radio Room when the festival has actually started, which sounds quite exciting. I'm very glad I won't be managing that gate when the festival is live.

Solar panels in Victoria Park

Covid-free at last

Friston, April 2022

Now that I am quite the experienced dogsitter I have been looking after Friston, who is a delightful and well-trained miniature Labradoodle. Not training to be a guide dog, just belonging to a friend who went away for a long weekend.

I still had Covid when Friston arrived, but I felt fine and he was not at all demanding other than wanting to be in the same room as me all the time. He came with food, treats and his own bed but he very much took to my yellow blanket, so wherever that went he lay down on it. We went for nice walks, watched TV together, and he was generally very good company. It's delightful to be greeted so enthusiastically first thing in the morning.

I have many charming photos of Friston, not least because I felt it would be nice to send a picture to his owners every day (and not just to prove that he was still alive). A couple more will appear in future posts...

Apart from Friston, the great saga was the seemingly endless succession of positive Covid tests. I was so relieved about the negative tests on Days 13 and 14 because I hadn't had to cancel anything that couldn't be rescheduled up to that point, but would have been disappointed to miss a few things this week. 

The first commitment (rescheduled once) was my Role Specific Training for the Commonwealth Games. While I was Covid-positive I'd dutifully watched the recording of an online Orientation session which featured many famous athletes, all of whom were strangers to me because I'm only interested in badminton. The huge excitement that was whipped up in the audience was all about... The Uniform!!! How thrilling, a uniform! Will it be as good as the uniform for the last Games, or the one for London 2012? And the colour has been given a Birmingham-specific name - Balti Orange! How cool is that!! People seem to love a uniform, and I'm sure it is necessary, but really it's not worth getting quite so excited about it. Luckily because it was online I could speed up the delivery and not spend 90 minutes working myself into a lather about the uniform colours.

Anyway, Role Specific Training, in person, in a college in central Birmingham. All I had been told up to now is that I would be a Sport Specific Team Member supporting the Results, Timing and Scoring Team in the venue where the badminton is taking place. "As the data will be captured and recorded in real time, a high level of IT literacy will be essential. For this exclusive role, we have selected organised problem solvers who can stay focused under pressure and have strong knowledge of sport competitions and their rules of play." Yup, that's me.

There were about 25 other people on the course led by two trainers - one a Canadian woman and the other an Australian man. The first thing they told us was that RTS doesn't stand for Results, Timing and Scoring but Results Technology Services, the group responsible for timing and scoring and distribution of results. After we'd reviewed some of the Games corporate material (Bold, Respect, Unity, Movement) and had the obligatory conversation about The Uniform (we will each get a bag but not shoes) we saw a snapshot of the types of technologies we're talking about - the gadgets that capture and record timings, false starts, photo finishes, scoreboards, underwater lap counters, transponders, and some of the human backup systems just in case something doesn't work. Lastly we were told about the social media restrictions and how we shouldn't be using our phones or taking photos during competition. Fair enough.

There is certainly much more to Results Technology than I'd considered before, and I think it will be really interesting to see behind the scenes. There are two more in-person training sessions to go - Venue Specific Training where I think I meet the team I'll be working with, and then another session hands-on with Longines who actually bring the technology and show us how to use it just a couple of days before competition starts.

The next commitment of the week was to welcome a Buddhist Order Member from London who has written a book about his experience with cancer, and is visiting groups around the country to promote it. It was the first time since the great reorganisation that I'd shared the house with a stranger, and good practice for when I welcome my Guest From Ukraine (I've been trying to think of a name for her, but GFU isn't pretty. Nor is My Ukranian Guest). As was entirely predictable, she is experiencing a delay getting here because of wanting to bring the cat, but fingers crossed for the end of May.

Then there was my Thursday badminton club AGM, where the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Team Captain retired. All these posts are held by a married couple who have been running the club for 44 years. He stopped playing at least 10 years ago but still turns up every week to chat and socialise; she still plays but would rather not. Their roles have been taken over by three people, but the club has shrunk from about 30 people before Covid to just 14 now. I hope it carries on, because I'm still going to my Buddhist class on Mondays so I'm relying on the Thursday club for all my badminton.

The visit from the gas engineer had to be postponed twice but 'twas on a Thursday morning that the Gas Man came to call. The call arose from the man doing the Gas Safety Certificate who noticed that the gas tap was so stiff that it needed attention from Cadent, who are responsible for the infrastructure. The Cadent man agreed that it was a safety issue and needed to be fixed, but unfortunately the small cupboard housing the meter didn't provide sufficient access, and the wall around it would need to be knocked down. We talked around this issue for a while, and he suggested that he would refer the matter to 'his team', and I haven't heard from him since. Knowing what I now know, I hope that's how it will stay.

Meetings

Riverhill Himalayan Garden, June 2021

In order to host my Ukrainian refugee, I have been visited by the District Council housing officer and found deficient to the tune of two smoke alarms and a Gas Safety Certificate. I can't believe how close to death I have been for the last 20 years here without such essentials. Anyway, I ordered smoke alarms via the Warwickshire Fire Service website, and noticed that a local company was offering to provide the gas certification for free for people signed up to the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The alarms have arrived - now I have to decide whether to do the proper thing and screw them to the ceiling, or make it easy on myself and use sticky pads.

Buddhist film night at my house went very well apart from burning the popcorn the first time round when a visitor distracted me by turning up very late indeed. They did bring delicious tortilla, and the second round of popcorn went well so they are forgiven. We watched the film Galaxy Quest, and one of the guests declared that he had come for the company and wasn't expecting to enjoy the film at all, but in fact it was really good and he was going to get his whole family to watch it.

I have been to two local meetings about the Commonwealth Games, which it is now clear will cause significant disruption in Leamington and Warwick and in my road in particular. One meeting was in the Pub Next Door and led by two of the local people who have been liaising with the Games Organising Committee about our three streets. Up to now they have been bound to confidentiality, but details have been worked through and there's now a much clearer idea of what residents will endure. It's likely to be so difficult that one of our two liaisons has decided to move out for the duration of the event.

The other meeting was for all residents of Warwick and Leamington, which was very carefully referred to as Royal Leamington Spa by all the officials throughout (one of them stopping to correct herself after saying just 'Leamington'). As well as the men's, women's and para bowling here in Royal Leamington Spa, the men's and women's cycling road race will encircle Warwick. In attendance were people from the District Council, the County Council, the West Midlands and Warwickshire Police services, the Organising Committee, Transport for West Midlands, and a handful of residents.

The cycling road race will prevent a lot of people in Warwick from getting in or out of their homes by car, but will only last for a single day. The bowling will remove 60 car parking spaces from our three roads for about a month, which is a great deal less time than was at first proposed. We have now seen the plans for where those cars might go, and how we will gain access to our properties, and when we can't - twice a day, lunchtime and evening, when the anticipated 2,400 spectators for each session will be leaving the bowling venue. I'd love to see the ticket sales, because based on my experience last summer I'd be surprised if they sell half that number.

The local group is doing a good job of speaking up for residents, and the Organising Committee is leaving it pretty much up to us to work out how to manage the restrictions. While most of us won't experience more than mild inconvenience, arrangements for people with Blue Badges, with young children or who are visited by carers need to be a bit more thought out, along with some allowance for people doing a weekly shop, deliveries, tradesmen, etc. One resident in the most affected road has added to the disruption by selling their house and potentially needing access by a removal truck during the month in question. For me, having a garage, it shouldn't be too difficult. For my guests, however, I might have to do a bit of homework.

Let the Games Begin!

Birmingham, September 2021

A busy week after the week's holiday, starting with a trip to see mum and dad that incorporated a Zoom interview with Guide Dogs. I thought it went pretty well, and they sent me a lot of information to read afterwards. I will be invited to the centre in person to meet a dog handler next, but haven't heard anything yet. On a subsequent visit to mum and dad I helped them get to their Covid booster jab appointment. The chap who was checking appointment times and supervising the 15-minute wait recognised mum as the person who had taught his daughter 13 years previously. Just like at the cemetery earlier in the year...

I was intending to do lots for Mr MXF this week, but kept finding more pressing things to do, including another walk with the Leamington History Group, taking another 10 bags of garden cuttings to the tip,  and cleaning the house from top to bottom (it really needed it). But I did get round to a bit of work, and by this week I'd really got to the bottom of one of the problems I was having. Progress at last - Mr MXF always seems delighted at what I've managed to do, even if I do get the impression that he would have been able to achieve the same results in a tenth of the time.

Thursday badminton has started again, and hasn't gone too badly despite the fact that a whole lot of members have decided not to return. I'm one of the younger players in the Thursday club, and I think during the prolonged break many older members found better things to do, and they also are more aware of the risks of returning to serious exercise in an enclosed space. In contrast I'm one of the older players in my Monday club, which seems to be thriving, but I'm still doing the Buddhism class on Mondays so can't go.

I signed up to a whole lot of lectures as part of the Cambridge Alumni Festival, including subjects as diverse as punishment in Victorian workhouses, the treachery of Edward VIII (the Duke of Windsor), the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, the latest thinking about Calories, the role of the statistician during a pandemic, the gut microbiome, and the history of computing at Cambridge University. All very interesting, with the oddest thing being the nature of actually listening to a live talk. All programming used to be like this - you can't pause the talk if the phone or doorbell rings - but it's been a long time since I've listened to anything live.

The next phase of the LTRP continues with the pointing of my wall on the pub garden side. While I was away camping, Glf was digging out the old decaying mortar, which generated a vast amount of dust. While in the wilds of Yorkshire with no phone signal I missed several calls from the pub manager followed by a very cross message saying that the dust was all over his pub furniture and he was going to charge me for cleaning it. I managed to get hold of Glf, who was very apologetic and agreed to get in touch with him, after which I got another message from the pub manager asking me to ignore the previous message as he'd calmed down a bit now. Glf was back this week to do the pointing, and it all looks very lovely.

The most interesting thing to happen recently has been my interview for the role of volunteer at the Commonwealth Games next year. It started badly due to the train sitting at an intermediate station for a whole hour ('a fault on the track'), but the kind volunteer at the venue (Birmingham's Central Library) fast-tracked me through so I didn't miss my time slot. 

First there was an exhibit all about the different venues that will be used, with cases showing things like medals and videos showing highlights from the last Games. Then there was a ridiculously over-the-top video which stated that without question the Commonwealth Games would be the greatest event that the world had ever seen and would end all disease and war and bring together the whole nation/Commonwealth in a frenzy of joy and positivity. I'm not joking - at that point I truly thought that if they wanted me to reflect this level of enthusiasm I would have to withdraw my application. 

Luckily the interview itself was much more sensible, and all I had to do was come up with some examples of times when I had e.g. been interested in sport, showed some initiative, communicated within a team, put myself forward for something a bit challenging etc. Running a conference for RNIB, being thoroughly obsessed with badminton and volunteering to be a Covid vaccinator provided plenty of satisfactory material. Then I was measured for a uniform (including hat), had my photo taken, and that was it. I'll find out in the New Year whether I've been picked, and if so, for what role.

Meeting in person

View from Bredon Hill, May 2021

Lots going on as usual. In vaccination news, as I suspected, the first wave of vaccinations is complete and the clinic is only opening on a couple of days a week. I managed to work one shift but it wasn't busy, and I had another shift booked but it was cancelled. Managers have been negotiating to keep the clinic open by making it available for public booking, and I think that's going to happen. I am 80% confident that I will be paid at the end of June...

The Commonwealth Games 2022 continues to loom over the residents of my little cul de sac. We had a meeting in the pub garden, and a committee was formed which will liaise with the District Council and the Games Committee to make sure that residents are considered when plans are made and contracts awarded. I still haven't made my official response on the Council website where planning permission is being sought, but I have seen some of the plans and the discussion at the meeting was very illuminating. 

It is anticipated that 2,500 spectators will attend two sessions per day for the nine days of competition. In addition there will be a media and broadcast centre, security, and car parking needing to be allocated for spectators as well as officials, staff and competitors. The current proposal allows for the erection of large spectator stands that will extend over the pavement and into the road and displace about half the residents' parking for up to three months, as well as blocking two of the three entrances to the park.

The main issues are the proposed three months of disruption for the sake of nine days competition, and the fact that residents are not mentioned when it comes to parking allocation. Some people are also concerned that the entrances to the park that will remain open are on the far side and there isn't a safe road crossing. So the committee would like to prioritise remaining parking space for residents by identifying those who particularly need to park close by - people who can't walk too far or perhaps families with small children - and bookable spaces for loading and unloading. I should be fine on account of having a garage.

There has been quite a bit of socialising since restrictions were lifted to allow meeting indoors. I continue to enjoy the company of the Buddhists, and we met in person on a May Bank Holiday weekend for a walk near Evesham. The weather was absolutely perfect, as it has been most of the time since the cold, wet weekend when Lola II and I visited Malvern. The sun also shone on another get together in person to say farewell to one of my badminton tribe, who is moving away. I had both my work leaving parties - low key lunch in the Diabetes Centre with the diabetes team, and pizza with the Dietitians. And Christmas finally arrived with a weekend visiting the friends who were going to host Christmas 2020. Presents were exchanged and Christmas pudding was eaten, only five months late.

And there's more news from the Buddhists. Normally when someone decides to become a Buddhist, as I did a year ago, there is a ceremony. Because we are a small satellite of the Birmingham group, previously this has been celebrated in Birmingham. We are trying hard to establish ourselves as a viable independent group, and one of the ways to do this is to try and hold the ceremony locally rather than in Birmingham.

What with one thing and another, it hasn't been possible to meet for the ceremony - other groups have been doing them online, but we thought we would wait until we could meet in person. This ought to have been straightforward, but while we have been online the church hall where we used to meet is being rented out to a daytime nursery. We want to continue to offer people the option to stay online as well as meeting in person, so we went there to test out the technology. While it was a resounding success in respect of laptop, projector, mobile phones and data plan, the actual environment has changed from a calm, green countryside hall where you can look through the windows at fields with horses or cows, to a busy room full of toys, games, paints, books and cabinets with clutter on every available surface.

So unless the nursery is prepared to clear a lot more space for us, we now need a different venue for the ceremony, and possibly also for our group when it starts meeting in person again. And, depending upon where that is, we need to start considering acquiring the tech that we'll need and trying it out, all before the date we've decided upon in July. Normally I would be happy to manage the whole tech project, but on this particular day I'll be fully occupied with more spiritual matters. The hunt is on for a suitable venue with just a month to go.

p.s. I'm not sure whether to be glad or sorry that the wisteria lives on...

Wisteria: alive! May 2021