Walking again

Just back from a long bank holiday walk in the hills. Half way up the first hill ( a mere baby compared to the other two peaks we were planning to take in) Dominique started to complain of having a headache, being tired etc.

However, when asked about her favourite book this holiday, she went on about Dick King-Smith for the next hour and a half, taking in nearly all the height gain for the walk. And then announced her headache had gone.

Distraction remains one of my preferred ways of dealing with these things!

The walk was fantastic: sunny weather and a good breeze to keep us cool, three peaks and a picnic on top ; a mountain lake and a long descent through a beautiful valley back to the car. The views from the peaks and ridges were stunning and the great thing about walking as a family is that everyone gets the chance to chat with everyone and to have some time alone, too.

Seven hours later, we've just got home - and poor Goldie has collapsed in her basket!

Results

Ant got her GCSE results today and did very well - 10 A*s and an A. Her friends all seem to have got the results they hoped for too, so everyone is very happy.

Her school has had exceptionally good results this year, so a lot of credit must go to them. However, I can't help reflecting on the Head's nervousness when he first interviewed her and learned that she had no TV and wondered how she could stay abreast of current affairs and the modern world. I feel our policies have been vindicated too.

Architectural heresy

We went to a church in Scotland that seemed to me to have been designed by a heretic.

It was deliberately flat - the whole aesthetic stressing the horizontal rather than the vertical. The tabernacle was tucked away in a corner. The crucifix did not have Christ Crucified, but rather Risen. There was no central aisle. and so on... In fact in every way it was designed to break with the traditions of Church architecture: traditions which have developed to communicate a sense of the sacred. And the result was that the congregation behaved with no sense of the sacred. They did not genuflect to the tabvernacle, but walked straight past it, bowing oddly in the vague direction of the altar - or the priest? Or the crucifix?... They chatted before and after Mass as though in a coffee shop, and so on....

Chrisitianity is an incarnational religion or it is nothing. Those who commission or design Churches like that either don't understand the implications of that fact or are heretical...

Camping

Just back from a few days camping in the Scottish Highlands. We had arranged to meet another counter-cultural family there and spent a few days walking - including climbing our first Monroe.

The kids had a great time, as did we. They all looked after each other, encouraged each other on the walks, played together in the river, took the dogs for walks and runs and so on.

There was quite a lot of discomfort of one sort or another: wet clothes, over-crowded tents, long walks in the rain, washing (and washing up) in cold water, and so on. All very character-building!

Despite all that - and dull weather and lots of midges - we all declared it a great success.

Climbing

I took Bernie, Charlie and Dominique to the climbing wall yesterday. We were the only ones there, so could mess about a bit - falling off on purpose and swinging on the rope etc. I let Bernie take charge fo the safety rope for my climbs, and for the little ones. It is a great builder of trust and confidence to let the kids take serious responsibility for each other's well-being 0 nd mine!

Picnic and conversation

We went for a picnic yesterday - a four mile climb into the hills to sit by a small lake. Bernie and I (and Goldie, our golden retirever) then decided to walk home (another 10 miles over the hills) while the others went back by car.

It gave me and Bernie the chance to be together and chat about something or nothing for a few hours.

In fact we got talking about love and marriage; about some friends whose parents are splitting up, and another firend who had a baby by a boy she has since split with halfway through the sixth form.

This was sex education as it's meant to be, in my view - an intimate conversation between parent and child about the meaning of love, the value of waiting, and the purpose of marriage.

And it was a gloriously sunny day, too!

Picnic - kids only

The three kids at home (Ant is still away) took themselves off for a picnic today, down by the local river. They took Goldie who loves to swim, and all went for a dip - it was a blazing hot day! Bernie (14) was in charge - and we feel quite confident in her ability to look after them all on such a trip: and it is important that she knows that we do. They had a great time and returned safe and sound - though somewhat shattered!