The Parish Magazine February 2022

the parish noticeboard — 6
Even short walks were off the
agenda until Christmas morning
I can’t walk very far, or very well,
these days so my Christmas walks
were very short but I did manage to
make it from the Bull gates car park
into St Andrew’s Church and to The
Ark where the Christmas services
and activities took place, writes
Claude Masters
It reminded me of the time when
I could walk further. I was also
reminded of this when searching
through the clutter in a cupboard
above my wardrobe and found a
basket full of over 50 maps.
Wherever I went on holiday I
bought a map of the area, be it in
this country or abroad, and most of
them are Ordnance Survey of a scale
suitable for walking. Each one brings
back memories that would otherwise
have been forgotten.
ANTIQUE
All are very old so they don’t
show new roads and developments,
although rights of way in the
countryside don’t change. Even
so, most of them are antique and I
would do better buying a new one.
There are, of course, many
satellite GPS trackers available these
days, but being told which way to go
and not deciding for myself which
path to use would, for me, take all
the fun out of hiking.
An OS map of Aberystwyth
reminded me of when my youngest
son was pre-school age. My wife, his
two older siblings and I were sitting
on the beach when we became aware
that he had wandered off.
We all searched initially to no
avail but after about half an hour we
found him half a mile away by our
car calmly waiting for us. He was
a terror for wandering off and was
never afraid of being lost.
GIFTED
For the first of the Christmas
services I made the short walk
from the Bull car park to church for
the Family service on the Second
Sunday of Advent at which the
Christmas tree was lit and toys and
cash for needy children were gifted
via the annual Reading Family Aid
Christmas Appeal.
The service included a visit from
St Nicholas and the second Advent
candle was lit by the auburn haired
great-granddaughter of Rusty, a
fondly remembered member of the
congregation.
ISOLATION
In this paragraph I was intending
to write my views on the other
Christmas activities in the parish
but catching a Covid infection forced
me into isolation until 23 December
so I missed them all. I also missed,
my short walks from the Bull to the
church.
I can barely recall why my wife
and I took lateral flow tests and
although they were positive we did
not suffer any Covid symptoms and
did not feel at all unwell.
Had we not taken the test we
would not have known that we had
the virus and we would have carried
on going out as usual.
The period of isolation was
frustrating. Being stuck indoors
unable to go anywhere, having
no visitors and there being little
pleasure in wandering in the garden
at this time of the year.
The self isolation ended just in
time for Christmas so the festivities
at church and with the family were
Looking for the wise men during The Epiphany Family Service
The Parish Magazine - February 2022 15
Claude's
view
from
the
pew
the light at the end of the tunnel.
The NHS Covid-19 app counting
down the days didn’t make it come
any sooner though.
Fortunately, there was some pink
gin, rhubarb tonic and a couple of
bottles of single malt whisky in the
cocktail cabinet!
Christmas comes but once a year,
but when it comes it brings good cheer!
It certainly did for Barbara and
I. The Christmas morning service
in St Andrew’s where children
brought their presents to show the
vicar was highlighted by Westy who
demonstrated how the attributes of
sight, hearing, touch and smell were
gifts of God revealed through Jesus
in a manger.
And it was especially good to be
able to exchange 'Merry Christmas'
with our many friends at church.
Janette Crouch