The world has opened up to me. Yesterday I was fitted with two hearing aids which I am getting used to. When my ear itches I go to scratch it but find that it is full of plastic. I have discovered that the clock ticks, that scratching my head makes a row, that I can no longer pretend not to hear my wife asking me to do something. I can proudly answer the real question and not the one I think I heard.

A visiting friend recently commented on how friendly this community is. It can be nice to be reminded of that, particularly when we are so used to living in a place.

October is a month which is bookended with giving thanks. We begin the month giving thanks for the Harvest, and Creation, and we end the month giving thanks for those we have loved who have died.

As I write this the world is burning. Unbelievably high temperatures, lists of countries battling wildfires, animals on land, in the air and in the sea dying.

At the July Deanery Synod meeting we were treated to a delightful talk by the Rev Helen Drever on Art in Churches. She took us through the history of God the Creator giving us creativity, and human beings displaying their response to God through art in Churches and as a part of worship since time began.

On July 10^th, 1973, I was dressed in the red PE kit of my house colours: my school’s houses were named after Caribbean tribes: Lucayan (red), Carib (blue), Taino (yellow) and Arawak (green).