A day of renewal

Today was the women's retreat at our church, or renewal, as they decided to call it this year. It was led by Shirley, or new associate pastor, who came to us from North Carolina. She was talking about Joy - something I think she is well-qualified to talk about it, as she is one of those people who just exudes joy. We were supposed to take along something which when we set the table for friends or family gives us joy or happiness. I took along this candlestick, which was a silver wedding anniversary present from my parents. They didnt buy it themselves, as they were too old by that point to be able to go out shopping, so they told us to choose something for ourselves. Since I grew up in Sheffield (England), famous for its stainless steel and silverware we wanted to find some Sheffield silverware. We searched in numerous different shops in Sheffield (where my parents were still living) but without success. We were living in the States at that time as we are now, so had limited time at our disposal. We eventally settled on this, which we both really liked - we thought it was simple yet elegant - but its Italian-made. However, it still reminds me of my home town and obviously reminds my of my Mum and Dad.

This evening we were out at a Symphony concert, with the Cincinnati Symphony and the May Festival Chorus. On the program were some of Handels Water Music, and Vaughan Williams a Sea Symphony, which is a choral symphony, based on text from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. I hadnt heard it before, but it was marvelous. Its quite strange really, as the book I'm reading this week is The Sea by John Banville - so I'm in quite a sea theme at present!