Now that we have Easter Day well and truly out of the way, I must say that I have enjoyed having a selection of chocolates to help me through the day. I offered chocolates to all of the care workers and generally we had a quiet Easter Day apart from the fact that our Eucharistic minister had called around early in the morning, I delayed the cutting of the lawns because having got up about an hour and a half earlier at the weekends as the care workers visit times had been scheduled, I felt rather too tired to undertake that task in the afternoon. Today is going to be quite windy and showery but if the weather brightens up this afternoon, may well attempt the task then. We have not had a really good downpour for ages and hence the grass is not springing up at the rate that it usually does in April. Yesterday, I completed the task of pruning the large group of files which had previously been housed on the floor and have now relocated them to a more rightful place in one of our bookcases where they are more accessible. This task was assisted by removing the dictionaries and associated reference materials to a new location and I am pleased with the result. Last night before I came to bed I had a bit of a brainwave and located a large and heavy box of teaching materials that I really do wish to retain for the time being to an inconspicuous location underneath one of the desks. This in turn has released further space on a bookshelf I not which I can now relocate another group of files that were not where they ought to be. I spent some time composing some linked HTML pages so that when I have filled in all of the details I should be able to put my hand on a particular file pretty quickly. For example, I should be able to peruse my list which I will have on the computer as well as in printed form and locate a file by looking for example, for a yellow folder which is 10th in the list and in a particular bookcase. Of course, it is one thing to set up a system (at which I am pretty adept) but I need to ensure that I keep using it and keep my lists up-to-date and that I keep things much more ship-shape from now on. I have always used differently coloured folders for various documents ever since my teaching days and the habit has stayed with me. But why things were not put away in the first place was because the various locations were 'full' so it is important to throw away as much as I can to ensure some empty filing space is always available. Today, I need to go through and prune another set of relocated files so if the morning is a little wet and windy, I will still feel I am making some good progress.
This morning, as soon as the carers had left, I turned on Sky News where the news was flashed about the death of the Pope. Needless to day, this has dominated the news agenda for practically the whole of the day as world leaders have rushed forward to pay their tributes to a man of peace. My own emotions were a mixture of sadness (that a good Pope be taken from our midst) but a degree of happiness that he was suffering no more. He died at 7.30am this morning (which will be 6.30 as the Continent are an hour ahead of us) and I suppose it is obvious to now that the celebrations of yesterday must have been the most enormous strain upon him. An official cause of death is due to be announced this evening but it seems a bit self evident as recently spent five weeks in hospital and, by all accounts, was near to death whilst he was being treated. He was a man of 88 years of age and had already had one half of one lung removed as a young man. Yesterday, he appeared on the balcony of St. Peters. said a few words and then went on a ride in his Popemobile across the square in front of St. Peters. Actually, he was the only one of the recent popes that I would dearly liked to have met and, almost a few years, almost did so. A small bespoke pilgrimage was being organised to go to Rome and Meg and I actually put down a deposit, which in the event was returned to us. The pilgrimage was to be organised by an agent with a lot of inside contacts so a meeting with the Pope in a small group was quite feasible. He was a man of great humility and love for his fellow men and avoided the trappings of office preferring to lead a simple life like some of the inhabitants of Argentina. I knew he was the first Latin American pope but also the first Jesuit pope which amazed me (that it had not happened before) Had he lived and had another decade of life then I think that the issue of gay men and Catholicism would have been resolved and perhaps, even giant steps taken towards married priests which is surely overdue. In the afternoon, the sun started to shine after a dampish morning so I pushed myself and got the front grassed area cut. I knew this had been delayed for a day or so and tomorrow if I push Meg down in Bromsgrove and back, I may feel too tired to make the effort. Meg has not managed much solid food today which is bit worrying for me. Nor did I manage to get any lunch inside Meg either but she did succumb to some small servings of Tiramisu and I will try later to get some solid food inside her not least because I cannot force food and drink on Meg but sometimes the disease process if such that her appetite seems to wane.
© Mike Hart [2025]