wildeabandon | Seaside!

I'm on holiday! I've booked a week in a little cottage in Whitstable, all by myself. For all that my cohabitants are as delightful and considerate as one could hope for, during the Before Times I had become used to spending quite a lot of time in my own flat wherever I was working, and there is something about the privacy of being able to shut the world out behind a locked door. Since I arrived yesterday I have felt myself expanding in a very freeing way.

This morning I went to Mass at St Peter's, which describes itself as Anglo-Catholic, whilst also having a female Rector, and an "Inclusive Church" poster prominently displayed outside - definitely my kind of place. In a slight variation from being asked if I had any serving experience, I was asked if I wanted to join the choir in singing the Kontakion of the Departed, which I was very pleased to do (and also with how it went.) Afterwards I stopped for a cup of tea, and was slightly taken aback by how much comment my white poppy drew - it was the first thing everyone said to me, whereas it London it usually goes completely unremarked on.

After the service I went and hired a bicycle for the next three days. It's been getting on for 20 years since the last time I rode a bike, but it appears that it's the canonical thing one never forgets how to do with some justification. I perhaps felt a bit wobbly trying to navigate tight corners, and not driving means my road sense isn't what it could be, but point me in a straight line down a cycle path and I'm fine. I cycled along the coast to Herne Bay where I had a fish and chip lunch and a hot chocolate before coming home again - about five miles each way. I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon making a start on my sermon for next Sunday, and then head out for dinner. I haven't had any oysters yet, so that clearly needs rectifying.