Three gardens

'And the Lord God planted a garden in the east...' It's very good but it doesn't last. In Genesis in Eden after they have disobeyed God, Adam and Eve hear the 'sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day'. It is evening and they hide from him because they are naked and afraid. It is a garden of separation, and death, of relationships destroyed.
As a contrast is Mary meeting the risen Jesus in the garden on Easter morning. Mary is naked in her grief and afraid but she goes seeking instead of hiding, wanting so much to stay with him that he has to say 'don't hold onto me' and sending her away to spread the message. I love it that she mistakes him for the Gardener, which of course he is. Here relationships are being made whole- 'go and tell my disciples - and Peter- that I have risen' . This is a morning garden starting in death and ending in life.
In between this evening garden and this morning garden is the night garden of Gethsemene where Jesus descends and harrows his own personal hell of doubt and fear. We talk of the cross being our salvation but it seems to me that the sacrifice is here in Gethsemene, where he can choose to walk away and doesn't. Once he decides to stay and wait for arrest and betrayal it seems to me the rest is inevitable. This is his choice, to stay and not run or hide, waiting out the night for the promise of morning ahead.

Our year of the theatre

Grandma and I have a long history of theatre going. When I was a teenager she and I used to go to the National Theatre and see everything. This was pre Southbank days before it became the Royal National Concrete Theatre and got posh. It was housed in the Old Vic down The Cut in Waterloo and you took your life in your hand getting there down seedy back streets in the winter dark. But theatre goers were a strong breed in those days and besides grandma always took her folding umbrella to see off unwelcome advances. You could get a seat up in the gods for 3 bob with a cushion, or 2 bob on the bench (without a cushion or a back!) If you were really hard up you could stand in the balcony for 1/6 but that was mostly students.
We were the real theatre goers up there. From our 3 bob seats we looked down (in more ways than one) on the nobs in the dress circle and even further down to the Suits in the stalls. We pointed at them and discussed them in the interval. Occasionally we dropped things on them. We knew which Ladies Room had the shortest queue in the interval and how to nip out quick from the side entrance to miss the crowds. We knew the actors and could say things like 'he wasn't as good as when he appeared in Rosencrantz' and 'I remember when Olivier stood in for ___ and played a butler and stole the show' and we'd probably say them a bit more loudly than we had to so's people would hear. If you were feeling extravagent you could queue up for ice creams. There was vanilla or strawberry in little paper tubs with wooden spoons but they cost nearly as much as our tickets so generally we made do with maltezers.
Our theatre era lasted for about 6 years and only really came to an end when I went away to university. When I came back the new national was open. I think we went once but the prices seemed ridiculous. The plush rows of 'upper circle' seats may have been more comfortable than the old wooden tiers in the gods but you had to pay for the privilege! So for a while our theatre going was no more.

* exchange rate 1 bob = 1 shilling = 2 mars bars)

Our year of the theatre 2

Now however we are back into theatre in a big way. This is partly practical. With Grandma living with us we have to think of things 'to do'. As she is not into walking on freezing beaches looking for gulls and dislikes science fiction, dinosaurs, monsters, modern art, radio comedy and Terry Pratchet we don't have much in common. However she does like theatre. And with the National now accessible to your average punter again thanks to the Travelex £10 seasons (hurrah) and two good local theatres in Ilford and Hornchurch we are going practically every week. Thursday night is our theatre night and Grandma is gradually getting used to the idea that we won't die if we go out after dark. Anyway we have had a great time. Here are some of the plays we have seen and a grandma rating.
At the National
A matter of life and death*****- a most extraordinary spectacle complete with bicycles, crashing planes and fires on stage.
St Joan ****- Great theatre effects, music and battle scenes, let down by long winded Shavian discussions on true freedom and the evils of nationalism in the first half. But it was alright because Grandma just dozed off and woke up in time for ice cream in the interval so she missed the boring bits.
Present laughter *****- for New Years Eve - really did deserve the word 'sparkling' and Grandma loved it for its 30s settings 'the frocks were just right'

At Ilford's own (our very own) Kenneth More ....
Stepping out ****- the life and times of a tap dancing class. Very funny.
Underneath the arches ****- another hit with Grandma as she sang along with Flannegan and Allan hits of the 40s
Fiddler on the Roof *****- Wow! It was so good we all cried.
Allo Allo **- lot's of slapstick and risque jokes with German sausages. So-so.
Improbable fiction**** - I thought this story of a writers group with collective writers block who get caught up in each others stories one dark and stormy night was very funny. Lots of literary in jokes and poking fun at the whole process of being a writer.
The unexpected Guest* - ancient Agatha Christie thriller showing its age. Won't be asked back.

Queens theatre Hornchurch
Corpse**** - comedy thriller with lots of murders just out of sight, mistaken identities and bodies that wouldn't stay dead.
Old Tyme Music Hall *****- Grandma just loved it. I think I was probably the youngest person there and grandma probably wasn't the oldest! We even had oldies on stage - one amazing guy did this juggling act and told jokes at the same time. He must have been at least 80!
Dick Barton Secret Agent *****- described as Stiff-upper lip meets tongue-in-cheek this was a musical spoof of the old Dick Barton Radio shows of the 40s. Half the fun was picking out the songs, they had parodies of everything from the Mikado to the Three Tenors. Six actors played all the parts and did all the music. Oddsocks meets James Bond.

Night Fox

Every now and then occurs one of those magic moments of gift, just being in the right place at the right time. Last night I woke up about 3am unable to get back to sleep I decided to go down and have a cup of tea and finish my soduku. As I came into the kitchen I thought I could hear the fox yapping in the garden so I left the kitchen light off and turned on the deck light. There completely unbothered by the light was a young fox apparently hunting mice under the wooden path. I watched him for about 20 minutes going up and down the path sniffing at all the cracks, poking his paw in, digging, moving wood around, obviously following something! I put out left over food, lamb bones etc for the fox (on the basis that having a fox is inevitable in London so you might as well have a healthy one!) but hadn't seen him for several weeks, was beginning to think he'd got run over. It was just a lovely time watching him. I always feel privileged when wild creatures come into the garden, foxes, frogs, finches, sparrowhawks, bats, dragonflies - the ones just out of the usual. The other night in the early hours I heard a bird land and walk on the tiles. It had to be a tawny owl pausing in its hunting. I wish I could have seen it.

Life with Grandma 2

Well Grandma's new life is continuing - she now has 2 tracksuits she wears most days and has bought her first packet of chewing gum. I half expect to come home and find her with a couple of bottles of alcopops watching TV. She is developing the sport of wheelchair pushing and was very pleased to meet another participant in the park today. She hopes it may catch on in time for the geriatric olympics in 2012. One track suit is a demure dark blue, the other is black with broad white stripes. I took her in M&S to try and persuade her to buy some more trousers but couldn't really get much reaction. Then half as a joke I showed her these black striped ones. Ooh I like those she said. Next thing I know we've bought the jacket too! She needs some sporty trainers now!
We have joined the Kenneth More Theatre club and go to just about everything. This week we went to Fiddler on the Roof - great fun, very emotional. The days are getting shorter and our walks in the park may be curtailed but there is lots of football on so all is well. We are also learning cribbage.

Life with grandma

Having grandma to stay is great fun because everything is new. We have basically just swept her up into our lives and so far she seems to be loving it. We have taken her to Tescos, B&Q, coffee at Tchibos, Ikea, Lakeside, Gallions Reach, an Essex wildlife trust nature reserve and RSPB Rainham. Dad even took her to the dump! She has tried pizza, rice, spanish omelette, roast veg and sweet potato for the first time to name but a few. She loves pushing the trolley round Tesco- though I get dirty looks (look at that woman making her poor old mother push the trolley for her!) She is like a traveller in a foreign country (ie life 2007) and fascinated by everything.
The list of new things she has done is huge. She has even had a go at internet banking and has acquired a debit card and pin number (though we haven't quite got around to actually using it yet). She is wearing trousers for the first time in her life and is currently sporting a pair of black tracksuit bottoms with white stripes and a fleece. Next stop a pair of trainers!
Tonight we introduced her to another of our regular events - the bonfire party. Our cell group 'wining and dining' met here tonight so we had a marshmallow roast. Great bonfire, lots of good dangerous fire poking, stick waving and frog chasing going on all around. Grandma sat by the fire in her special chair with the sheepskin, like a tribal matriarch, and loved it all.

As time goes by

I can't believe so much time has gone by without putting anything up.The last 3 months have just been crazy,first grandma getting ill and having to go backwards and forward to see her, trying to get the house ready so she could live here,finishing off all last years courses and all the new recruitment, then Canada, then home to more course planning, enrolment week, new tutor interviews and inductions and of course sorting out grandma long term. A slight pause this week then classes start Monday! Just this one more week of craziness as all the new classes and new tutors start and then hopefully I'll have sorted out a reasonable timetable. In an odd way though I'm looking to actually get more done, I;ve noticed before that the less time I appear to have the better I plan it and think oh I've got an hour between this and that - I can fit in a swim or whatever. If I have too much open time I get nothing done at all.

Alan Johnstone is free

Thank you Lord for a touch of grace in the midst of war