R's rue

 When I’m on vacation, one stop I must make is to a church, and NYC was no different. I told my best friend, if I did anything, I knew where I had to go. St.Patrick’s Cathedral didn’t disappoint. For all its outward beauty, it’s what I found inside that captured my attention. I got peace in the middle of chaos. Quiet surrounded by noise. My soul desired it. Craved it, as if I were a kid begging for candy. For all my travels, the churches and cathedrals hold my heart. Assisi, Montreal, and New York City are in good company. Spiritual quiet and holy silence. My body from head to toe demands it. And it got it.  The church provides me physical rest and spiritual refreshment. As I look up in awe once again, I’m reminded how He is the only balm to my weariness. Jesus, you give me what I can’t give myself. And that is a blessing and a miracle. I wonder how He continues to sustain me even when I doubt His ability to do it.  I’m grateful that You give me, and continue to do so the...

Visitors who only read blogs will not have seen the following background alert that has recently been appearing on the dashboards of blog creators:- Updates to the Blogger Content Policy We are making some changes to our policies, effective December 16, 2026. To see how these changes may affect you, please find more information in the  Blogger Content Policy . I thought that it was about time that I investigated what this is all about. What changes are coming and how will they impact on everyday blogging? As far as I can make it out, it's all about tightening the system up and ensuring that Blogger is not used maliciously or for unsavoury purposes. It appears that Blogger has seventeen key guidelines that bloggers are meant to follow. Now it seems that these principles will be given more weight and there will be better enforcement. I copied and pasted the guidelines for your interest:- Absolute zero-tolerance policy; results in immediate removal, account termination, and reportin...

On Friday, I walked into the city centre to be at the lunchtime screening of "Wild Horse Nine" in The Showroom - my favourite  local cinema. Starring John Malcovitch and Sam Rockwell and directed by Martin McDonagh,  it is a dark comedy with a political edge set in Chile in 1973.  Many people do not realise that the most westerly part of Chile is Easter Island - 2330 miles across the eastern Pacific Ocean. Malcovitch plays the part of Chris and Rockwell plays the part of Lee. They are CIA agents involved in the pending overthrow of Salvador Allende's democratically elected left wing government. They have been planted in Chile for many months. For some reason - it is never explained why - their boss sends them to Easter Island . It was this factor that drew me to the film because I spent a happy week on Easter Island seventeen years ago - an experience that meant the world to me. Surely the film's use of Easter Island as a backdrop would bring back some special memorie...

 Happies Christmas card season Delicious sweet treat Bing Crosby My Christmas tree You from R's rue https://ift.tt/sRFcXbZ

Every leaf that falls in autumn is a little different from its neighbour. They each have their own story to tell - like the lines revealed on an open palm. Over the last week, the tree friendly southern suburbs of Sheffield have been carpeted with leaves and sometimes you walk ankle deep along the pavements, listening to the leaves' crinkly soundtrack. The air has been still but yet there are nooks and crannies, corners and gateways where the autumn dead have drifted. Yesterday, I raked and swept up a great pile of leaves in our garden then I decanted them into an old dustbin where they can gradually rot down for a year or so ready to enrich the soil. A virtuous circle perhaps. "Leaves" is a word used more than its synonym - "departs" and on Thursday our decorators left after a two week stint of meticulous work - preparing, sanding, undercoating, coating and recoating. They have done a great job of our hallway, staircase and landing. Although five different youn...

 When anxiety  Rises up  In me May a quiet Faith roar In response That says I’m here To guide And lead You into A hope That can’t Be dispelled  from R's rue https://ift.tt/VvlSM7C

T his is the second in a series of blogposts that explain the origins of the unusual names of several stations on the London Underground railway system. The first in the series was published a mere fourteen years ago when the author of this blog considered Shepherd's Bush . Today, we are thinking about Canary Wharf. Who knows - it might be another fourteen years till we reach the third selected station. I bet you can't wait. Just to warn you - the author will then be eighty seven years old and may be even more doolally. B efore people got used to money, there was something called bartering. You didn’t need money. You could just exchange things with your neighbour. You might have admired your neighbour’s bantam chicken so you’d say “I’d like to have that little chicken” and your neighbour might say, “Okay you can have that bantam for a sack of turnips.” Then you might say “No way Jose! Half a sack of turnips and it’s a deal but not a full sack. Turnips are hard to grow.” And the...