28th March

At 3.00 am this morning we arrived home from our holiday in Kenya and words fail me in my attempt to describe the time we had with Mary's brother David and his wife Liz. "Awesome" would be an understatement, so I don't intend to say anything for a day or two and just let things sink in and let the best memories come to the surface. In addition, as well as some comments on what we did, I will put some of the photos we have taken on Flickr.

The first Sunday we were in Kenya I was woken by a text message from Lucy, my daughter, bringing me the news that Wales had beaten England in the Six Nations by 27 points to 18; 22 points of which were scored by James Hook. Sometimes it's so good to be alive!!
To many Welsh supporters it will not matter one jot that Wales have lost the previous four matches of the tournament as long as they have beaten England. That makes it a good season. Even some columnists in the Welsh newspapers are talking along the lines of "all is now OK because we have beaten the old enemy." What a sad and pathetic attitude and one I suspect may be responsible for our repeated failure to perform to our full potential against other nations.I am obviously thrilled that we aren't the wooden spoon holders and that a star has finally been born, but what other reason can there be as to how a team that can beat England so convincingly can also play so badly against Scotland and Italy, other than that the myth of "all that matters is that we beat England" has been so deeply engrained in the national psyche that even the players believe it. I appreciate that this season there is very little between the six sides but I am wondering if a side that can play as well as Wales did in their final match and as well as they did to win the 2005 championship are, on other occasions, just plain lazy! If the supporters really believe the "as long as we beat England" lie; and if some sports journalists in the Principality support that, could it be possible that even the players themselves believe it and so never fire on all four cylinders for other matches?
Excuses abound but, with the exception of James Hook, Gareth Thomas and Gavin Henson, this is vitually the same team that won the 2005 championship, and then everyone hailed them as the team of the future because they were, and still are, so young. Yet now they are talkng about this latest victory as being the start of their rebuilding. Weren't they talking about rebuilding under Steve Hanson, three or four years ago. How often and how many times within four years do you need to rebuild? To me this does not make sense. They use the fact that their new coach has only been in position for a year as another reason why they have not "gelled" this season; but their last coach, Mike Ruddock, was in office for less time than this when he led them to their 2005 championship win. I wonder what excuses they will use when they get knocked out of the early rounds of the World Cup or when they fail to produce the goods in next years Six Nations? Nobody would be happier than me if all I have just said was to be proved wrong by an outrageously victorious Welsh team who capture every bit of silverware available over the next 12 months. I am Welsh and whatever the result of their last match may have been I will be shouting for my side to win - I just wish they would do so a little more regularly ! Cymru Am Byth!

10th March

Tomorrow we go to Huddersfield for Dominic's dedication. It will all be a bit of a rush, leaving our own church half way through the meeting and then getting over to join the folks in Dan and Kim's Church. Anyway, it's all going to be really good and just adds to the excitement of the next few days. We start packing on Sunday evening in readiness for our flight on Monday night to Kenya. So, the next 36 hours or so is all systems go. Everything is in place, vaccines, anti-malarials, visas etc, etc. Today I have been sorting out correspondence and paper work so that everything is in order before we go. Mary is doing some baking for the post dedication meal and sorting out clothes that need washing before we pack. Tomorrow evening we pack, allowing ourselves Monday for anything that has been forgotten. We are being taken to Manchester Airport by Bethan and David at 5.00pm on Monday evening to arrive three hours before the flight at 10.00pm. Everything so far seems to be in order.
Watched the Six Nations Rugby this afternoon. Another knife edge thriller for Wales, which unfortunately they lost - again! I am mystified as to how a team of such talented individuals cannot do better. The team that won the championship in 2005 will this year not register a single win - how? No doubt over the coming days there will be calls for the resignation of the coach, Gareth Jenkins and for the captain to be sacked in favour of the new find, James Hook. Hook is actually sensational and reminds me of the floating, jinking abilities of Barry John. So there is still hope. I hope the coach hangs on in because in the mediium to long term I think he will pull things together - it's just rather painful to be Welsh at the present moment !!
Next game is against England, and if Wales win that, even though they have lost everything else this season, they will consider the chamionship to have been a good one!

7th March 2007

Things are starting to get cranked up for our holiday to Kenya, although neither of us can really believe that we will be there in a few days time. Most of what we need is now bought, all vaccinations are done and all that is left is for us to start packing over the next few days. It sound idyllic, sun, sand, sea and very high temperatures - will I want to come home? We will be staying with Mary's brother, David and his wife Liz and they are organising out itinerary. They have already suggested a glass-bottomed boat trip to see the dolphins and to view the fish around coral reef. We will probably also be doing a Safari and probably a lot of lieing around on the beach, some snorkelling and catching up on a few novels.
Day off today - but neither of us really fancied the customary walk in the Dales and just continued to get things ready for the Kenya trip. Mary has spent a good part of the afternoon putting music on her MP3 player and I have pottered round doing bits and pieces and reading.

I have finished volume 1 of Jeffrey Archers Prison Diaries which I have found very informative and helpful in understanding more about the prison system and the man himself. Before reading the book I always felt a distinct dislike for Lord Archer, partly because of the party to which he belonged, and partly because of his dishonesty. But whilst reading the book I have begun to feel less hostility and even some sympathy for him. I fear that if I read volumes 2 & 3 I may even get to like the man!! He certainly comes across as a person who was able to command respect and even some measure of popularity amongst his fellow inmates, although one has to remember that the impression I am being given comes from his own pen, and he is an extremely skilled and persuasive writer. He seems to have spent the best part of his first three weeks in prison amongst prisoners who were serving life sentences because they were more settled and accepting of their sentence and less likely to give a celebrity a hard time.

From my own experience of working with inmates in the local prison I am still amazed and appalled at how Judges can give a person a custodial sentence when they are clearly not a danger to society and should be given some other form of punishment. I have met so many prisoners who committed non - violent offences, people who are not dangerous but are locked up in prisons that are overcrowded. Surely, when the government are claiming that our prisons are at breaking point, it is time to consider alternative ways of punishing men and women rather than locking them up. Incarcerating a man who has tried unsuccesfully to work a tax dodge, or been found guilty of embezzlement is a waste of money and a cell. Instead that man could be forced to make a worthwhile contribution to his victim and to society by keepng him at work whilst he financially pays back his debt. The Judge's deliverance of a custodial sentence usually ruins the man's marriage, seriously damages his children, and in general terms does more harm to the prisoner's family than it does to the man himself. Many men, even those who have been succesful busines men who believe they have something to look forward to on release, find that the stigma of prison ruins their chances of developing a succesful career after their release; making them an even greater burden to society.In addition, imprisoning a man costs the country thousands of pounds. Prisons, locking men and women up, should be reserved for those who are violent and a danger to others. The grey areas come in the decisions to be made about recidivists and those whose crimes are drug related. The latter problem being one of the greatest that our society faces today. So much crime now is drug related. Putting a drug addict in a prison so that he goes through withdrawal and stays clean for the remainder of his sentence is not even the beginning of the solution. When the man leaves prison and goes back home he immediately picks up old friendships and old ways. His whole environment will work against him and before too long he will be addicted again. Part of the answer lies within the sort of follow up and support the man gets when he has left prison. Even moving him into an entirely different part of the country could be a consideration. Oh if I ruled the world........

1st March

Time to put some photos of our new grandson on display. This is one of the best and the rest you can find on Flickr. Sunday 11th March is Dominic's dedication and the day after Mary and I head off to Kenya. But back to Dominic - he has changed quite dramatically every time we see him and I think is getting to look more like Kim, although it is still early days. He is starting to take more notice of things around him and becoming an interesting little chap. Enjoy the rest of the photos!http://www.flickr.com/photos/13615080@N00/

Yesterday was my day off and because the weather was so awful we spent the morning sitting round at home reading and drinking coffee. I've started reading the first volume of Jeffrey Archer's Prison Diaries and because of my own involvement through church in the local prison I find the book especially captivating (oops! bad terminology). More about Lord Archer and Belmarsh prison later. After lunch Mary and I went to Leeds. Mary went shopping whilst I went back for my final assessment on the climbing wall. The instructors have to be convinced that I can belay another climber proficiently before they will allow me to register, and all went really well and they passed me, which means that I can now use the wall at any time unaccompanied by an instructor. As well as belaying the instructor I had several hard climbs on the wall and this time didn't fall off. I felt both stronger and more confident and feel that some of the strength training I have been doing for my hands and arms is beginning to pay off - although today my hands, arms and shoulders have a dull ache even when I don't move them. I am really enjoying the rediscovery of climbing and will probably go down to the wall at least every other week, interspersing the visits with trips to the gym. Being able to do a hard climb gives such a feeling well being and a sense of accomplishment as well as using a combination of strength and agility in getting up the wall which improves fitness. It is intriguing to watch more experienced climbers working their route out as they go up the climb, it a bit like playing a game of chess but you work out the moves with your body. I can tell that this is something I could get addicted to.

Today I worked most of the day in the Offices. One or two people dropped in to see me but for the most part I concentrated on preparing a talk for church on Sunday morning. I have now got some themes and ideas for a talk and tomorrow will spend a good part of the day getting it written up. Saturday I will spend a few hours fine tuning it - or at least that's the plan!!

I like the challenge of sitting down with a blank sheet of paper and seeing what eventually God gives me to speak on. Some church leaders hardly make any notes or do any written preparation before they speak; they spend most of their time in prayer, jotting down just a couple of notes at the last minute. Personally I begin with prayer, and when I feel ready I turn to my Bible, start reading and writing down notes as they come to me and continue praying until finished. I often end up with far too many notes but it's easy to just cut them back to the required amount. Sometimes I can get inspiration to write a sermon from reading a book, watching a film or even watching a rugby match. God can and does speak to us in all sorts of ways in order to get our attention -