My dear Jerry,

I am glad you are finding out the real truth about cats. Jennifer and I loved this in your letter:

We laughed at your attempted bribery of Zoe and we don’t think that purchasing large quantities of catnip mice for Zoe will work.

Twenty odd years ago our sleek black Siamese cross made quick work of our Sunday dinner while we were at Church. Gina opened the door to the kitchen by hanging on the handle. She then jumped up onto the work surface and made her way to the cooker where we had some brisket cooking in a pot. She removed the lid and caught the meat by its string wrapping lifted it out (a 2lb piece of meat!), dropped it on the floor, dragged it into the living room and ate all she could, as it cooled.

Yes cats are fun.

Anyway to business. You were asking about my holiday. It was OK, nothing special and the weather was pretty poor. During the first week the rain lashed down and it was cold. Jennifer was wearing her gloves! A true British summer. The ducks were even swimming in the flowerbeds. The ornamental boating pond in the park overflowed and ran down the road. The Marine drive was closed for three days due to heavy seas breaking over the sea wall. People walked about doing all the things you do on holiday but there was an air of misery everywhere. We huddled in damp steaming cafes. Our beach chalet went unoccupied.

After about five days or so, I awoke early one morning to find that the sun was out. It wasn’t warm but it was sunny. The sky was blue. I crept from the hotel room being careful not to wake the family and walked down through the park to the beach. The ducks were still swimming in the flower beds. Puddles had to be skipped. But it was all transformed. What had been a dreich (a good Scottish word, that should need no explanation!) and very miserable landscape became beautiful.

Flowers were reflected in a perfectly still boating pond. Ducks swam silently past elegant swans as swallows took an early breakfast. Leaves glistened and sparkled, covered with raindrop ladybirds.

The grey sea had become a deep and beautiful blue. The waves broke softly onto bright sand. A jogger ran by, an old man stood reading a paper, a dog barked and laughed its way after an energetically thrown ball.

The world was exactly the same as it had been twenty-four hours before. The only difference was the sun. Not that it hadn’t been there the day before. It had been. Obscured by mountainous dark clouds.

During the night the wind had come. The clouds had been blown away. The sky had cleared. The sun had become visible. Over the next few days the sun did its cleansing work. The ground dried. The boating lake crept back into its appointed place. The ducks swam in the right place. The flowers recovered and drooping heads rose to the heavens. People changed. Rain clothes and gloves were slowly discarded. As the grass dried people began to lie about and enjoy the warmth. The ice cream kiosks reopened. People sat outside. A deserted Marine Drive filled to overflowing. The sun had come.

As I thought on all of this and recorded it in my diary and on video I realised I was watching a living parable of the way the Lord comes into our lives.

I knew then I had to share it with you.

As the wind of the spirit blows away the mountains of doubt and sin, so the Son shines into your life. The work of transformation is already underway in your life as you know and day by day you see the world in a new way – filled I hope with sonshine!

Enough of the waxing lyrical.

Here is a strangeness you will like – it will provide you with a window to my soul!

I have been writing of Scarborough. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel sang of Scarborough in the song Scarborough Fayre/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. As I wrote I had a track on my new CD on repeat, as it was very gentle and pleasant. I finished writing went over and got the CD cover to discover that it was "There is a Green Hill Far Away: – The Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Edit" by the World Wide Message Tribe.

They have added a lovely lyrically chorus to the traditional verses:

I hope you are enjoying that freedom!

Every Blessing,