{"id":5201,"date":"2020-03-11T18:01:03","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T17:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/?p=5201"},"modified":"2020-03-11T18:01:03","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T17:01:03","slug":"meeting-of-poets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/?p=5201","title":{"rendered":"Meeting of poets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"870\" src=\"http:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_1689-1024x870.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_1689-1024x870.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_1689-300x255.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_1689-768x653.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Allan and Julia Higbee with assorted grandchildren (I think).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Israel is receding into the distance, though I&#8217;ve just written a piece on it for my website. Several members of our group have reported being ill, but I don&#8217;t think any of them has coronavirus, although a couple of them self-isolated, which seems quite a nice idea. Dot and I have just pieced together a narrow IKEA bookcase or two for the hall, but we need something to stick it to the wall, as I&#8217;m pretty sure there&#8217;s wiring where there would normally be a screw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dot picked up the bookcases yesterday while I was at the doctor&#8217;s. My blood pressure was unexpectedly low, and so there was nothing to talk about really. I am going  to have a blood test at the end of the month. Before that we&#8217;d been up to Boots to choose frames for my new glasses, and Dot unexpectedly got some too. She doesn&#8217;t like to be left out. Afterwards we had a cup of tea in Tea Junction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later still we went to the cinema to see <em>Emma<\/em>, which was entertaining and quite satisfying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Monday we had been to the Robinsons for tea\/coffee and a rundown on the Holy Land. Philip was quite perturbed that there were 55 in our party, because he had been under the impression that we had gone in a minibus. He was also worried (quite rightly) about Syrian refugees on the Turkish border, though this wasn&#8217;t as near Israel as I think he believed it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the afternoon I drove to Beccles for a meeting of Suffolk poets at Lynne Nesbit&#8217;s house. She is a singer and a poet, and good at both. The other four were slightly less impressive, but I think we&#8217;ll manage to get something together for the Poetry Festival. Good cake and tea, and quite a pleasant afternoon. I read a couple of controversial poems, but they seemed to quite like them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Sunday I preached at St Augustine&#8217;s, including as you might expect references to the Holy Land, but concentrating on Psalm 121, which has more impact after you&#8217;ve been to Israel. Ray and Chris weren&#8217;t there because Chris is quite ill: her stomach cancer is rearing its head again. During the Peace we all made eye contact only (coronavirus) but took Communion as usual!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The previous day we had been to the George Hotel at Swaffham for Allan Higbee&#8217;s 80th birthday party \u2013 a lunchtime buffet with cake and drinks. Dot was kind enough to drive back, and although we didn&#8217;t know many people there, we got to know some by the time we left. I got on well with Allan&#8217;s brother Brian, who is a big Leonard Cohen fan &#8211; and a singer and guitarist. He played a Cohen song later on. Allan is not a big fan: he&#8217;s more into choral music. Lot of family members there, including Alex (very nice) and her daughter Ariana and husband Paolo, who is working for Amazon and loving every minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israel is receding into the distance, though I&#8217;ve just written a piece on it for my website. Several members of our group have reported being ill, but I don&#8217;t think any of them has coronavirus, although a couple of them self-isolated, which seems quite a nice idea. Dot and I have just pieced together a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/?p=5201\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Meeting of poets<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5203,"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5201\/revisions\/5203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog360.back2sq1.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}