Doha Days

The perimeter walls of our secondary school campus are being given a new coat of paint. This cheery team of three, one out of shot, have already painted the front elevation of the main entrance. Somehow I am happier that they are not using their wobbly scaffolding tower anymore. They are fast workers and seem unaffected by the continuing heat - 39 degrees today!

Today I am thinking of all my Polish friends as they celebrate the fast track elevation of the Polish Pope to the rank of Saint. For many Poles he achieved that status, in all but name, while he was alive. Former President, and another pivotal Pole in the fall of communism, Lech Walesa attended today's event. I was privileged to meet him when he came to open the new British Embassy in Warsaw. I was in the crowd who squeezed onto Leith Walk when Pope John Paul came to Edinburgh. Actually I remember seeing more Pope mobile than Pope but as I lived in the eastern fringe of Edinburgh's New Town I could not resist going to see him on his way to celebrate mass in St Mary's RC Cathedral. My thesis was a simple one: its not every day that The Pope comes to your road end! ( The next best thing to expecting The Spanish Inquisition cf Monty Python!)