I sent an email to friends last night and mentioned that I'd met a friend of theirs who might have thought I was behaving a bit oddly. I had a reply from the husband, which said not-quite-comfortingly that she's used to odd people - what? I wasn't saying that I was odd, just that I'd been behaving a bit unlike myself. Really, people are peculiar.
You see, I was telling him about my visit to Norwich yesterday, and this walk around the churches. I did start by cycling, but it was foggy first thing so I only went to the five most local churches and didn't bike more than about 3 miles. Then we dropped Wink off to visit the baby and parked in the city centre.
One of the first churches went to was the loveliest. A non-conformist chapel, built in the 1760s, it is octagonal in shape, inside and out, and is quite beautiful. It's in Colegate if you ever visit. The children behaved beautifully, returned greetings politely and commenting on what they saw inside the churches. Pugsley was particularly taken with the stained glass, saying "goodbye, windows" as we left each building. We visited 16 churches altogether, including the cathedral, and one of the last was the Quaker meeting house. My friends, to whom I sent the letter, are Quakers and attend there. Having had our forms signed, and leaving Dilly outside with the children (not all the buildings are easy to take a pushchair into), I asked if I might look inside. As you might expect, it was very simple indeed, with a circle of chairs and a table and plain pale walls, undecorated by pictures or anything else. Two women were talking; one was expressing some disappointment. Apparently, she is interested in religion except that she can't stomach the thought of a god, and she'd rather thought that Quakers didn't believe in one. The other woman was explaining that they do believe in a deity.
When the disappointed woman left, the other one chatted to me, and I did hold a proper conversation, but I was a little less than normally fluent. It was the atmosphere of the room. I'm not sensitive to this sort of thing as a rule, but there was a powerful feeling of goodness there. I actually felt quite dizzy. It wasn't a religious feeling, but simply one of strength and peace. I told her how it made me feel - she didn't quite get it any more than my friend did when I tried to explain. I suppose they're used to it.
Anyway, I've briefly emailed back, telling him that I AM NOT ODD.
Huh.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Goodness!
Don't you start.
I'm going to become a recluse.
I am odd and quite proud of it!
But, really z, sometimes I think, "No one is home." I make a very clever comment and it is met with a blank stare. I wonder, "Is it me?" or is their mind somewhere else? Also, in our area there are a lot of immigrants who don't speak English very well, so perhaps they don't understand.
I don't think that what you said is odd at all, if that makes you feel any better. I think it's a really beautiful sentiment.
Of course you're not odd, that all sounded perfectly acceptable to me. I have had similar feelings about places.
So if you're odd then I must be too....oh, hang on...... nah...it's not us....it's them.
He wilfully misunderstood me, the rascal. I've had another email this morning in which he teases me again. I'll be seeing them tomorrow. He might get a hard stare.
You understand me, darlings. It's us versus the prosaic people.
I want to go to that room!
I did misread the end of your post though. I thought you said "I'M NOT GOD" - now that would have been a weird thing to say.
I'm loving the fun you're having with your colours and fonts, btw. Your personality is really shining through :-)
It's apparent that those people who are used to being there didn't know what I was talking about - yes, I'd love to know if anyone else was affected the same way. Not that it would hit me the same way again, these things don't.
Personality? Oh crumbs. The reason I don't ever do anything with the template is so that I don't have to make choices that are unwittingly revealing. Colours seemed more innocuous. The current combination is because it is similar to the colour scheme in my parents' drawing room 40 years ago which was a particularly pretty one. Colour scheme, that is.
Well, blue and pale yellow. I'm not very good with colours. I'm a bit random, I only know what's wrong not how to put it right.
Post a Comment