Storm Barra

Storm Barra arrived on Tuesday.  The sea was calm before dawn under a  sky full of clouds, but by noon it was roaring away like a million freight trains and the waves were spectacular.  Our snow fell as rain, but it was snowing in other parts.   The Captain gallantly struggled out to post my latest  letters, which included a card to a sister who has just lost her husband.  I cannot imagine...   We have sent her a card with a picture of Irises, made from one of Bea's silk paintings.  

I have also done letters/cards for Pete and Barbara, Richard and Gale, and Rob and Judy. 

My trip to physio has crippled me. Somehow i managed to rub my foot sore - I am no longer used to wearing shoes.  And a few days of these very mild exercises, in which my strongest efforts have not managed to put even one dent in a crisp packet. have left me hobbling round with very sore knees.

On Wednesday morning we woke to find a calm sea outside. And still no snow. Amazing how it can calm down.  The metal detectorists were probably out on the beach as who knows what the immense seas of Barra might have thrown up.  I would love to go and do a bit of beachcombing myself but I can't even make it downstairs at the moment.

The Captain was off on a rather grim search and rescue yesterday. They are looking for the body of a murder victim. I can say no more than that, I don't really know any more than that. It is kept very quiet for obvious reasons.  So I had to take in the Waitrose order by myself. If I had thought ahead I would have asked for it to come in plastic bags. We do without and Col loads it into large plastic containers, brings them to the kitchen while i unload them as fast as I can,  and then I bring the empties back for a refill.  It was going to be a long process without him...

To continue the story - and I hope the excitement and suspense of my supermarket delivery isn't proving too much for my more sensitive readers - maybe I should have included a Trigger Warning? - all went well.  The guy who delivered them was very kind. He took one look at me and did all the unloading himself into the plastic containers Col had kindly left ready by the door.  And when I apologised for not being thoughtful enough to  ask for it to be in plastic bags this time - which would have been much easier for him to unload - he told me that they did not do plastic bags anymore.  So - no regrets.

My day was reasonably productive.  Field service in the morning - the meeting and then working with a sister afterwards for an hour or so.  And I caught up on correspondence and paperwork in the afternoon.

I creaked slowly through my exercises - with the crisp packet yet again wrestling me to the floor.

The power of the waves of Storm Barra made me think of the power behind the creation, the English Channel being just a speck in a vast universe, and yet full of such energy.  The Inspired Scriptures tell us that matter - the universe - comes from energy - Jehovah's dynamic energy.  When we look up into a clear night sky we can get a dizzying glimpse of the energy behind creation:

        “Lift up your eyes to heaven and see.

Who has created these things?

It is the One who brings out their army by number;

He calls them all by name.

Because of his vast dynamic energy and his awe-inspiring power,

Not one of them is missing."  (Isaiah 40:26)