Christmas 2011

Darkness has fallen on Christmas Day. The past 24 hours has seen me in church twice, first with the Watchnight Service last night at 9.30pm, and this morning again, at 10 am. I participated as a chorister with the church choir - they're always short of tenor singers. The parson made a direct and stinging reference to the recently emerged scandal surrounding the abuse of children in the Catholic Church in Holland, although she did not referred to the Catholic church by name. The implication was clear though. The Pope has not referred to the issue at all - to my knowledge.

Queen Beatrix, in her annual address to the nation, called on all Dutch people to bear in mind the environment and the limited resources of our planet. She also expressed her opinion that material wealth should not be such an overriding consideration in our lives. A noble aspiration, but not entirely realistic.

This afternoon, we went for a walk of just over two miles round the immediate area. It is quite mild at the moment, with the mercury at 10C / 50F. It is even milder in the Western Isles, at 12C, but with a howling gale, with winds of between 65 and 85 mph.