Variety is the spice of life

... especially in a monastic town.

Today I finished the project I was working on for the New Norcia Archivist, to type up all the NN cemetery burial records to create a computerised index of all the burial plot numbers and their occupants' details. When I finished the list, it occurred to me that at least three monks I knew who had died and were buried in the cemetery in the past few years were not on the list, so this prompted Peter the archivist to run to the nearest phone booth, change into his superhero costume and whip out the parish burial register, which confirmed that there were about 17 people who had been buried since the last  update of the cemetery list I'd been working from, so it looked like an excursion was in order.

So, after checking that the earlier rain had abated, we sallied forth from the Archive building, and made our way to the cemetery, in search of the newest graves. Thanks to Peter's local knowledge of who was buried where, and my correlation of family names with some other records, we managed to find most of the graves, and make a pretty good 'educated guess' as to what the plot numbers were, based on a rather complex map that Peter had. I was then able to take this new info back to the Archives office, and enter the data on my index list (with appropriate notes that some of the plot numbers still needed to be officially confirmed), but essentially, the job was as complete as it could be, and the Archives now have a much neater, and more easily updatable cemetery index (and Peter will no longer need to feel embarrassed about presenting the Abbot with a dog-eared, scribbly list (not very legible in some places) whenever he needed to confirm the location of a particular grave for the benefit of researchers or family members.

After this achievement, I had a rest after lunch, and then after Afternoon Prayer, sought out my usual little corner of the guesthouse reading room. As is my wont, I moved the furniture around so that I could put my feet up (the big armchairs up there are very comfy!), with a heater beside me, and a reading lamp over me... I was ready to finish off that great book by Margaret Silf.

All was going well until about 3pm, when the weather got a bit wild outside, and then the lights (and everything else powered by electrickery) went off. This wasn't a problem, as I was sitting near a window, it was still light outside, and I had enough layers of clothes on to be warm without the heater, so I ploughed on... after about half an hour, the lights came back on... only to go off again about half an hour later (again, no probs, as there was still enough light to read by... just)... and then the lights came on again... but after only a brief period this time, they went off again- this time for good, so I packed up and went to my room, via the kitchen to dispose of my coffee cup. Whilst in the kitchen Dom Chris, battery powered lantern in hand, came swooping by, asked if I was ok, and upon seeing my book on the bench, stated, "the other side of chaos, indeed!" before continuing on his way.

Once in my room, I retrieved my little LED torch (SO glad I packed that!) poured myself a glass of wine from a bottle I brought with me, (as I figured it was wine o'clock), and then proceeded to finish off the last dozen or so pages of my book by torchlight. After that, I thought it best to go and gather with the other hardy souls in the guesthouse lounge, before heading down to the oratory for Vespers.

By this time, it seemed that some power had been restored, but it was all a bit random. The guesthouse lounge, dining room and kitchen were all without power (and aren't we glad that the monastery kitchen cooks with gas, people?! .. although the staff were working by battery lantern light :-)  Some of the rooms in the upper guest house had some power, but my room had no power (although I later discovered that the aircon/heat pump is working... must be wired to somewhere else) The lower guest house is fine, and that's where I am now, typing this, as I need power because my laptop battery is dead. 

Because the issue is an internal one, it means that monastery is responsible to fix it and can't call the state power people... so this means they have to get an electrician to come up from Perth tomorrow to fix things, so life could still be a bit interesting... especially when it's time to have a shower at 6am; it may have to be a cold one... or I might have to sneak down here to the lower guest house and use the communal bathroom here.

The power outage certainly made for an interesting dinner by torch and candle light, but people have been in generally good spirits, and a sense of cameraderie is prevailing. 

So that was my day today... in between the prayer times, when I was the only guest present for some of the offices- especially the early morning ones, so it was just me and the monks :-) Varied, unexpected, but full of God in all kinds of ways. And now it's time to go to bed.

Tomorrow I plan to tackle Marcus Borg and Dominic Crossan... more later.