JEDI July: Day 5 - Canoe and Cuisine

Yesterday's blog did, I admit, get a bit out of control and was nearing novel proportions by the time I had finished blah-ing. Owing to the fact that I am also even more tired than I was 24 hours ago (for reasons which will become obvious), it's time to keep things brief... (Edit: Fat chance! Will I ever learn?!)

The dawning of the first Sunday of the month meant two things: 1 - I needed to get ready for church and 2 - there would be action songs to endure when I got there. Breakfast consisted of a banana and a few cream crackers, then I had to haul myself round the road half an hour early in order to rehearse a drama with Andy Williamson and Richard Merritt about Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus. Happily, I was Ananias, who only had to remember two lines and 'do what God has sent me to do' - lay hands on Saul's head. The service, being an all-age affair, was very hectic as, along with our drama, there were also baptisms, videos, prayers and the inevitable action songs to get through. Matt also gave an excellent testimony about both the conversion of a university friend and his own coming to faith. Afterwards, we both helped to tidy away chairs and tables from the hall as people were finishing coffee, passing less-than-subtle hints that it was time to make a move by removing chairs almost as soon as people had risen from their seat. Luckily no-one made the mistake of sitting down again! Just before I left Matt and David talked me round to having a go at kayaking at Calshot in the afternoon and we arranged for Matt to collect me at 2.

Returned home for lunch and saw Mum for the first time in over a day, our paths having never crossed in all the recent busyness. Matt arrived on time and we made for Calshot Sailing Club, where the Butler's surprisingly heavy kayak was removed from its perch and readied for the off. I squeezed into some gear loaned from Matt's dad, then we gingerly carried our vessel down the slipway and into the sea. Despite a bit of trouble actually getting into the boat, once we were off we made good progress away from the shore as I slowly mastered the rowing technique. I thought the boat was a bit unstable, though we managed to keep upright despite a strong wind and current pushing us back the way we had come. Following a toilet break (back on dry land I hasten to add) we swapped seats so that I was now in the front and this seemed to make our good ship even less stable than it had been before, eventually resulting in a capsise as we rounded a protruding sandbank. Fortunately due to the shallow water we were able to right the kayak and get moving again, though after a good hour or so I was getting quite worn out from all the rowing, as well as feeling ever so slightly seasick from all the bobbing about! We made for land, hosed down the boat (and eachother) then lugged it back to its stand, where I wacthed on as the supposed expert Matt failed to master tieing a rope around the vessel. For someone who has hardly even been near the sea I thought I did OK and, despite having a mouth full of seawater the excursion had certainly been an experience and a great way to spend the afternoon.

We showered and changed, then it was time to head for the forest to meet up with Ernest and Lydia for a 'healthy' picnic. We had originally planned this to be at Anderwood though as we were running late a quick phone call to Ern whilst calling in at Matt's house to drop off the sailing kit resulted in a change of venue to somewhere slightly closer to home. We convened at 5.30 following a slight confusion over our actual meeting point and unwisely made for a shady area which turned out to be on a slope. Nonetheless, a large supply of food (not all of it entierely healthy) and chat kept us busy for at least three quarters of as many a joke and inappropriate conversation topic was shared around with much mirth.

Both Lydia and Matt had to get back for seven so we tidied up the half-eaten picnic stuff and got back on the road. Matt dropped me home and Ern dropped Lydia at church for the evening service, then he popped round so we could swap photos of recent events then buy some popcorn for consumption during Top Gear. We had a quick drive round Hythe and upon return we found the parents had arrived home from tea with a homegroup friend. Lydia got back from church and she, Ernest, Dad and I settled down to watch Top Gear for an hour.

Following this we decided there was still time for another brief trip out and, despite waning slightly due to the busy weekend, Ernest drove us all to Calshot, where we sat in the car on the seafront, stared at the gleaming full(ish) moon and informed someone of their flat passenger-side tyre, which I am sure made their day. Ern took a few moon photos with his camera (I know what you're thinking...behave!) and then it was definitely time for home. Further beep-and-wave 'victims' were targeted on route and we got back at around 10.15.

After all this I came to the realisation that I still hadn't done my blog for the day and thus this became the final task of an extremely hectic weekend. Notice the correlation between the amount of activity in a single day which requires documenting and the resulting lack of time in which to blog!

My best-of-intentions mission to condense the day and remove the tedium has, once again and, rather predictably, proved to be in vain, though I shall return tomorrow for a trip to town and my first round of golf for over two weeks. Exciting, eh? See you then people!