Nothing but nothing will stick fabric to a bare concrete wall….at least not for more than a few hours. Leg and I have been shinning up 3m (10ft) ladders re-sticking backdrop with ineffective gaffer tape and praying. And leg has forgotten that it doesn’t have the confidence to do this…it’s been in emergency mode… this is the mode where the hero has been shot in the stomach but somehow staggers on, driven by fear and adrenaline… I will feel the damage (or lack of progress) when the show is over. We had a limited budget, which automatically means something less than perfection in the Christmas Journey (http://christmasjourney.org.uk/) interactive promenade play put on by local churches. And yet it was perfect. We’ve shown it to over 900 Yr 2 (6-7 year old) school children and had great feedback from children and teachers.. the kids are sooo enthusiastic – Mary bakes bread in her kitchen and they tell her its the best bread they’ve ever tasted; they shiver enthusiastically as they sit wrapped in blankets on the shepherd’s hillside; they laugh at the funny donkey in the stable and they dress up, sniff real Frankincense (donated by lovely and generous BM colleague Caroline) and then try to run off with Jesus’s gold in the Wise Men’s palace ….given the effort required to do this (using mostly inexperienced volunteers) … why did we? Maybe it’s like giving birth – you forget the pain once you see the result. (see pics).
There has been next to no physio/exercise for the last 3 weeks or so… just too busy…so now I’m feeling it; left heel and right hip/knee feeling like the opposite of a comedy double-act. Not exercising is a false economy…. if I don’t… if I don’t give myself/my body the time it needs in the morning… if I go too fast, the life I’m having is a sort of automated cheap imitation…and there will be payback. Only the ooos and gasps of the children as they sit in the story-teller’s tent watching a visual representation of the creation story, makes it worth it.
It’s freezing outside…but no snow. Just a stunning crystal clear full moon…and when we attend the carol service at the Guard’s Chapel tomorrow, I will slow down, take a breath, and start to feel like it’s Christmas…
jx
Star backdrop
Godly Play tent
Mary’s Kitchen
Shepherd’s Hillside
Wise Person’s palace
Ain't we got it made? 