Outside looking in

Thursday
A dull, dismal day today, still unseasonably warm, with rain in the afternoon, so I thought the view looking into our family room from the patio looked quite cheery and festive. I was at home in the morning, then early afternoon, Roger and I went to the sports center, intending to swim, but since there were several people in the pool, Roger decided to go on the elliptical machine instead. By the time we got back, Laura had already left for work. This evening was a memorable event - we had choir practice for the first time since March ‘20. Although we have been having in person worship for a while now, we had been without a music director since the summer when our previous one retired. We had a good practice with the new director, obviously slightly awkward since we don’t know each other yet, but I think he should work out well. Unfortunately, our pianist/organist couldn’t be with us this evening as he was playing somewhere else, but fortunately the new director brought his wife along, who is also a pianist. We won’t be singing this Sunday, but we hope to have a few things ready for Christmas Eve. We were thrilled to have about six new people join us this evening!
As I write this, we have recently been joined by our son Philip, who has come to stay over the Christmas period in between jobs. Jen and Jason won’t be with us for Christmas, as Jen is working, but we will be going out to spend New Years with them in Salt Lake City.