Spring is Here!

Finally, the weather has turned!  After a bumper serving of winter (that almost lead me to the conclusion that we were in the grip of the Norse Fimbulvetr, but no seems we're safe after all (it was only two successive winters after all).  Actually I have felt the upturn in temperature since at least the End of February, I mean, why else would I sleep with the window open every day...

I'm not sure if I could name one favourite thing about spring, one singular facet of a season that really does it for me.  I'm not indecisive I just can't decide.  Bright sunshine but a chilly shade, calm days that become breezy evenings, and sunburn for the unprepared.  I'm looking forward to the eventual appearance of the fabled 'Cornish Summer' in maybe a month's time, although the extra serving of winter we received has pushed everything back, and reinforces the view that we don't so much have seasons here, but just weather.  Hopefully though, this spell of warm and sunny weather is here to stay and improve, rather than the usual brief window of sunshine followed by yet another wintery blast.

It is the beginning of May after all, and there's a lot to come.  This is of course the Trinity Term in the old style, the last term before the summer vacation dawns, with a lot to do here at the stall.  This year's Compact Disc recording is happening in a mere two weeks(!!!), a disc consisting of commissions and pieces dedicated or associated with Truro Cathedral Choir.  Composers such as Russell Pascoe, Graham Fitkin and Philip Stopford will stand alongside  Francis Pott and Gabriel Jackson in what promises to be a testing three day recording session.  On the 25th I'll be singing in a Gala concert at Lanhydrock, where not only will I roll out the usual, boring Countertenor fare of Dowland songs (sexed up by being sung by me, of course, a hugely attractive Victorian-Facial-Hair-revivalist, and accompanied by Piano rather than bothering with all that Lute rubbish), but also a nice little set of fin de siecle and twentieth century songs (Charles Ives, Samuel Barber, Michael Head), and the unenviable duty of rounding the whole thing off with Purcell's incomparable Evening Hymn.  There will also be other delights, from assorted Sopranos, Bass, Clarinet solos and some soupy-sounding Mendelssohn duets, where I sub in for a missing Mezzo.  God, they're awful those duets.

Looking further ahead, to the last midterm, I hope to invite the Admiral down to The Scholary for a well-deserved holiday.  There are quite a few people beginning to suffer from end-of-term syndrome already, as the accepted view of reality starts to break down and the next move suddenly and quite terrifyingly becomes vital.  A lot of people I know down here are actually moving on to University, including half of the Scholars, while my flatmates are graduating.  It's bizarre, being in this sort of position.  Knowing that my flatmates from my third year are graduating this summer, (and also those on their years abroad coming back for the last push) and having my last probationer from Derby Cathedral finish his first year at Uni as well, makes me feel absolutely ancient.  This April just past also marks the 15th anniversary of singing in the Church of England, which is quite a milestone!  I guess it's the start of Trinity when I first started as a Probationer, and I'm still going, somehow!

The rise in temperature and increase in sunlit hours has also meant that I can get the legs out!  It's the simple things, eh?  Soon enough the ground will dry out properly and I'll be able to wear my moccasins outside...!


Stay tuned for more BEDM bedlam, I might try and branch out into a few photo posts, but I doubt I'll have the chutzpah for a vlog.  I mean, it's bad enough having to read all this, right?  Let alone listen to ME actually SAYING it!

That's all.  For now.