December 5th.

It’s a cold, clear day, snow lying on the roofs but not the ground.  St. Paul’s Church is within the grounds of the University.  Like all the other university buildings, it’s red brick with white colonnaded entrance.  The university looks very smart in this livery.  Inside, the church is large and quite simple.  The congregation is sizeable, friendly and welcoming.  We’re introduced to numerous people, all of whose names we promptly forget.  One gentleman is so confused by my accent, (as well as perhaps being a little deaf) that when I tell him I live ‘on an island’ , he remains convinced (whatever I say), that I live ‘in Ireland’.  The service followed a printed liturgy - a mixture of formal and informal.  The sermon concerned the need for repentance as we await the birth of Jesus. 

After church, we went to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States(1801–1809) and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776).  Up a steep and winding road, autumn leaves lying thick on the forest floor to either side, past a pretty tourist shop that certainly knew how to charge, we arrived at the visitor centre and took the bus up to the house.  With magnificent panoramic views all round, it’s smaller than you might expect – quite a compact and comfortable home rather than a statement about power and wealth.  Jefferson designed it himself, and constantly changed it to suit his changing needs and tastes.  It’s elegant and makes a lot of use of delicate wooden sash window frames, sometimes triples sashes, in windows placed at the best angles to catch light from all directions, making the house bright and airy despite its relatively small size.  After one trip to Europe, he came back with the idea of what we would call a ‘hole-in-the-wall bed’.  These were used throughout the house, with an interesting variant in his bedroom.  This bed was built into the wall dividing his bedchamber from his office but had only walls at the head and foot, and no side walls.  He could therefore step out of bed on either side depending on which room he wanted to enter.  We find the great man standing outside the visitor centre, but he is not very conversational.

 

Evening – service of 9 lessons and Carols in a candlelit church, well filled.  More introductions, more welcomes.  At the end of the service, we process out behind the choir singing ‘Oh Come, all ye faithful’, walking right round the church and back into the church hall where a the last two verses fill the room along with the aromas of a finger buffet onto which I fall with relish.