Build me a bridge over the stream
to my neighbour’s house
where he is standing in dungarees
in the fresh morning.
O ring of snowdrops
spread wherever you want
and you also blackbird
sing across the fences.
My neighbour, if the rain falls on you,
let it fall on me also
from the same black cloud
that does not recognise gates.
This picture was taken a day or two after Kai was born, back in the summer. I’m putting it up here now so that folks who receive our Christmas e-letter can visit this post and nab it, if they so desire!
Kirby Muxloe is a village west of Leicester; we lived there 1965-67. I took this photo on a trip to England in 2011.
This blog will be quiet for a few days while Marci and I enjoy some hiking in the mountains (hopefully, if we aren’t rained out or smoked out by forest fires!).
Marci and I are going back to England on Sunday evening for a three week visit. This was originally planned as a visit with my Mum and Dad to help my Mum celebrate a birthday of some significance, but it was not to be; as most of my friends will know, my Dad died on August 12th, and his brother John died three days later. So our first week of holiday will include my Dad’s funeral (at which I am to preach) on September 3rd and Uncle John’s funeral on September 5th. After that we hope to have some holiday time, help Mum celebrate her birthday, and visit with some other friends and family.
We will be spending most of our time in beautiful Oakham, where my Mum lives, but will have a couple of other short trips as well.
Here’s a picture of Oakham that i took in May 2009.
1967, aboard the ‘Empress of England’, about to leave for Canada and missionary service in the Arctic.
My Dad and Mum, Mike and me, and Nana and Grandpa Taylor who had come to see us off.
Taken in our garden in Leicester Forest East, I suspect in 1966 some time.
