Gaudete Sunday

Rejoice is the theme of church services today - look back and repent, look forward with hope. But even at church people wanted to talk about the Park and the school. Surely there are other places to build was the chorus. People who don't live in Eaglescliffe but use the park regularly for their leisure wanted to be sure it wasn't going to be spoilt. It takes a long time to explain over and over - time I could have spent on wrapping Christmas presents if only I'd had time to shop for any!
As I walked home in the early evening I was struck by how few festive lights there are outside houses on my route this year. Maybe because there's still almost 2 weeks till Christmas, but I had the feeling that they went up earlier in the past. Perhaps the credit crunch is having an impact or maybe it's people cutting their carbone footprint from choice or maybe it's just my imagination.
I heard the most bizarre story of climate chaos this morning - a friend tells me that her son, working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean for his first ever Christmas away from home, has had snow! The first in the memory of most people there - if that's not climate change what is?

I went to visit the new Go Outdoors store in Stockton this afternoon. I missed the official opening by the Mayor, and also the belly dancing exhibition. But I did see lots of lovely outdoor clothes and equipment making me want to go home and put on boots and Go. However, it was cold and windy and getting late so maybe another day! I was very pleased to see it so busy, which bodes wll for its profitability and therefore for the longevity of the jobs created. I was also pleased to see that the coffee machine in the corner stocks Fairtrade coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Now we just need the snack machine to stock some Fairtrade snacks and the cold drinks machine to stock FT cola and juice and they'll be perfect.
This evening we observed Earth Hour by turning off the lights and having just one candle burning. I was reflecting on whether it was a worthwhile action or just a meaningless gesture (both descriptions put forward by opposite sides on the climate change debate). I thought about the savings in electricity in those cities taking part - huge public buildings not being floodlit for an hour, MacDonalds' golden arches being dimmed, hundreds of thousands of people turning off the lights for an hour - and I decided that it was worthwhile on 3 fronts. It makes individuals like me think for a few minutes about the impact of my power consumption on the world. It makes a statement to those not yet thinking about it and perhaps encourages some of them to start thinking. Finally, but not least important perhaps, is that it actually saves power and slows the use of resources. That's got to be worthwhile surely.
I noticed on the list of participants that Hartlepool, Durham County, Gateshead and Newcastle councils all signed up to participate. Next year Stockton???