2010:365:21 Day Off

No watch.  No phone.  No papers or books.  Just time to wander on a secluded beach and watch the dog have the time of his life!

We were both wet and cold but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm for a wee run.  Slipping down a muddy bank wasn't a great beginning to the morning but - who cares?!  The only people around were on a path some distance away and probably didn't even notice a woman and her dog playing in the sea.

Getting away from the normal routine from time to time is essential if we're to function properly.  The break doesn't always have to be long or even far away.  Our trip today involved a journey of fewer than twenty miles altogether and it lasted only for the morning ... but it was good to switch off.

Eliot will spend the rest of the day (after his cleansing shower) steaming beside a radiator or in front of the fire.  I'll curl up (also after a warm shower) and watch a murder mystery on television and maybe doze.

In one sense it may sound like a dull day at the rectory - and it is certainly a dull day weather-wise.  But in another sense it is relaxation and rest.  Most folk have a Saturday or a Sunday as a day of rest - I have a Thursday!  Sometimes it isn't possible to have the whole day to myself, but when it is available then I'm going to enjoy the freedom.

Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
Transform the poverty of our nature
by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.