You find out the strength of the wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down .
C.S. Lewis.

We experienced last night and this morning one of the biggest batterings of wind we have had this year. We felt its force though we are protected by being in a valley.  From about three o’clock in the morning when a red warning was issued to about 11 o’clock in the morning the elements huffed and puffed their way through Somerset as they did in Wales where being on the hills and mountains must have been an experience that one would not forget.

I’m not frightened by the wind the same as I am not frightened by the four elements air earth fire and water. I was due to attend a Christian men’s breakfast this morning at 8 o’clock but earlier on listening to the wind coming in bursts I decided to follow the government’s advice and travel only when necessary.

The AA map showed me that the two Bridges from England to Wales had been closed so unless you were prepared to make the extra hundred mile round tripped via Gloucester it would be better to make you get on with it.

I received an email from the organizer of the breakfast saying the meeting had been cancelled. The road from Bath to Radstock was closed temporarily due to a tree having fallen across the road. The local Christmas fair was cancelled due to the wind. The Bath market was cancelled due to the wind.

I say again that I love extreme weather provided I’m in a comfortable place observing it.  I love extreme  cold, extreme wind, extreme rain, and even though I grumble about it extreme heat though I can bear the latter only in limited amounts.

At half past ten we visited our friend Jenni at her home along with her mother, father and husband, plus three teenagers children playing in the background. It is the sort of South African hospitality that I really miss after my time there in the early naughties. . The problem with an’ English man’s home being his castle’ is that people are not always welcomed but here the welcome is unconditional and the conversation wide ranging.I need to feel welcomed in order to be comfortable.

Francoise talked about her knee and how the injury was sustained at an unfortunate time on the first day of our recent holiday, Jennie gave warnings about taking things easily and allowing six weeks for such an injury to recover. We talked about the local Sulis hospital in Peasedown and how the increase in business was causing parking problems. We talked about how people in third world countries are really poor to the extent they sometimes don’t have anything to eat on a particular day and we remarked that we have no idea what real poverty means.

Jenny said that when she was young in South Africa they had to pay for their materials when going to school including exercise books, pens, paper to write on and it could easily melt up to 100 pounds per child

We had seen the program on TV where the mother engaged in oyster catching, the father had to work in another town some distance away, and the two children were supported by missionaries in another home. The mother said she could only visit the children every two to three months and on one occasion it was six months. What a life and yet her spirit was strong.

At 2:pm we went on invitation to visit a new branch of Oyster care homes, Silver Street, Midsomer Norton, a top of the range facility for older people or those needing  a period of respite.  The rooms were very well appointed in this establishment only opened this September, there was a library, entertainment rooms, a cinema room, a hairdresser and later on there will be a facility for dementia patients on the first floor. The cost for a standard room was £1450 a week and for a deluxe room £1750 per week. Currently there were four residents with room for 66. I don’t think there will be too much difficulty in filling up once the word gets around and I wish them the best of luck. www.oystercarehomes.co.uk

Later on we started to watch on French TV the inauguration of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris attended by political dignitaries from all round the world. There was an eight part improvisation from the organ during a ceremony when it was ‘woken up’ and reintroduced to the world.
Tomorrow morning Sunday 8th December there will be a re-consecration of this amazing building which dates back to 1206.

As I write at eight o’clock this evening the wind has died down and the atmosphere is now still.  While looking for references to wind I came across a lovely quote which doesn’t actually have to do with wind but which I found enormously helpful in reconciling situations. This one by Red Skelton.

“When anyone hurts us, my wife and I sit in our Japanese sand garden and drink iced tea. There are five stones in the garden – for sky, wind, fire, water, and earth. We sit and think of five of the nicest things we can about the person who hurt us. If he hurts us a second time, we do the same thing. The third time, we light a candle, and he is, for us, dead”

Yesterday I announced in our local  community social media group that I was going to start a group for diary enthusiasts and I got three positive for responses. They say that everyone has a book in them and I suppose this is  part of an intrinsic feeling that in spite of everything our lives are worth something and we are able to make a unique record of what we experience. I like the thought that each person is unique on the planet and thus can make a unique contribution without really trying.