Saying goodbye

Today seemed to be consumed by huvtaes - the early morning shopping to replenish an almost-empty fridge, the annual check up at the dentist, the last of the holiday washing before I pack an overnight bag tomorrow - but was dominated by the necessity to be at my computer in the middle of the day to attend online the funeral service of my friend and mentor Dale Gray. Ideally, we'd have been there, in Coldstream - but neither of us felt up to the drive there and back from here; it's not a quick journey however you approach it.

It's a big task, to conduct a ceremony marking the end of a life - because each life is such an amazing thing, and this is the moment when something has to reflect that wonder, and for some of us still, that something is a church service. In this case church was the only place it could have been, because Dale was a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church and had influenced many of those present, in person or on Zoom. And it is so important for those left that it should be special - the feeling that you've taken part in something that the person who has died would have appreciated is a powerful comfort. But here's a thing: when it comes to my turn, I want to go out to the solemn intoning of the Nunc Dimittis. See to it, someone...

Otherwise? My teeth are ok but for a bit of scaling (to be done on Monday - got a cancellation), and I'm so tired I can barely think. 

Blipping the only two digital photos I seem to have of Dale on the last time I saw him, in 2007. I'm sure there are others in a box somewhere, but that would take more rummaging than I have time for today. Rest in peace, my friend, and rise in glory.