Sunday, August 28, 2005
Back To Church
The man who inspired my short story, Whisky Snatching, died 11 years ago this very day. RIP Wee 'Uncle' Joe.
Showered and dressed smart before 9.30am on a Sunday can mean only one thing - Church. It's not something we do on a regular basis, in fact the last time either me or Gail were in a Church in any formal capacity was our own wedding day, over two years ago.
The occasion was our to see Charlie Maule being Christened, the three month old son of our friends Sarah and Rob, in St. Andrew's Parish Church in Musselborough.
The ceremony was - interesting. One moment the Reverend was laughing her head off for organising an inter-Church BBQ but then realising she never had one to cook any food on. The next minute the Church was split into groups for Peruvian hymn singing. It was all very lively and would blow the cobwebs out of most stuffy heads on any Sunday morning.
Wee Charlie didn't seem bothered by any of it and when it was over, we all made our way to the Quayside Inn, overlooking the North Sea. The weather was very blustery so we were glad to get a lift down by a couple of Gail's friends.
Inside the function suite the drinks started to flow as everyone started celebrating the event. Gail knew everyone. I was introduced to more of her friends from school, their partners, brothers, aunts, sisters - you name it; the history of Leith, according to all the old school friends, relived before my very eyes.
Accompanied with Sarah and Charlie, Rob stood up to cut the cake and make a speech. He started with the usual stuff, thanking everyone for coming and for all the gifts, and then he started to talk about how much he just wanted to be a good Dad. And we all heard his voice go, and we all saw his eyes well up. There wasn't a dry eye in the house by the time he stood down.
We joined a table with more of Gail's friends; the ones she goes out with occasionally. Only one of them had their partner with them so I spoke to him a bit before he left. That left me with Gail and four other "lively" ladies. To cut a long story short, it was likle being in the middle of an exaggerated Scottish version of Sex And The City. It was almost horrendous if I hadn;t enjoyed sitting on the other side of the fence so much. I felt like a lamb to the slughter, but hey, I'm just a bloke!
We left around 4pm and my kind MIL drove us home. Both of us were slightly - how shall I put it - merry by the time we got home and a lazy afternoon ensued. By the time the effects had started to wear off, it was evening and the only thing left to do was enjoy the peace and quiet in the house (Laura was at her Grans overnight), order pizza and watch a film.
Showered and dressed smart before 9.30am on a Sunday can mean only one thing - Church. It's not something we do on a regular basis, in fact the last time either me or Gail were in a Church in any formal capacity was our own wedding day, over two years ago.
The occasion was our to see Charlie Maule being Christened, the three month old son of our friends Sarah and Rob, in St. Andrew's Parish Church in Musselborough.
The ceremony was - interesting. One moment the Reverend was laughing her head off for organising an inter-Church BBQ but then realising she never had one to cook any food on. The next minute the Church was split into groups for Peruvian hymn singing. It was all very lively and would blow the cobwebs out of most stuffy heads on any Sunday morning.
Wee Charlie didn't seem bothered by any of it and when it was over, we all made our way to the Quayside Inn, overlooking the North Sea. The weather was very blustery so we were glad to get a lift down by a couple of Gail's friends.
Inside the function suite the drinks started to flow as everyone started celebrating the event. Gail knew everyone. I was introduced to more of her friends from school, their partners, brothers, aunts, sisters - you name it; the history of Leith, according to all the old school friends, relived before my very eyes.
Accompanied with Sarah and Charlie, Rob stood up to cut the cake and make a speech. He started with the usual stuff, thanking everyone for coming and for all the gifts, and then he started to talk about how much he just wanted to be a good Dad. And we all heard his voice go, and we all saw his eyes well up. There wasn't a dry eye in the house by the time he stood down.
We joined a table with more of Gail's friends; the ones she goes out with occasionally. Only one of them had their partner with them so I spoke to him a bit before he left. That left me with Gail and four other "lively" ladies. To cut a long story short, it was likle being in the middle of an exaggerated Scottish version of Sex And The City. It was almost horrendous if I hadn;t enjoyed sitting on the other side of the fence so much. I felt like a lamb to the slughter, but hey, I'm just a bloke!
We left around 4pm and my kind MIL drove us home. Both of us were slightly - how shall I put it - merry by the time we got home and a lazy afternoon ensued. By the time the effects had started to wear off, it was evening and the only thing left to do was enjoy the peace and quiet in the house (Laura was at her Grans overnight), order pizza and watch a film.
Colin 11:59 am