Pancake Day

'Tis pancake day and I haven't got the energy to make pancakes. (Or crepes as they are called here).
Tomorrow will be Lent. Sleepy sent me an article from the Guardian. The Church of England is advocating a carbon fast for Lent. What a brilliant idea. I will certainly be taking their advice.

But I will be observing Lent this year on a personal level too. I used to do this regularly, meat, refined sugar and alcohol, all gone for forty days and nights.
Then I didn't for a couple of years.
So what is different this year?
For me, Lent is a time for balancing. The Christmas period, which let's be honest, runs from the beginning of December until Epiphany, is rightly, a time of feast. And this year it has been particularly true. I feel as though the mid-winter celebrations started in November with Divali and have only just finished.
Not only have I put on weight, but I do feel out of balance.

Christmas happens in the sign of Capricorn, an earth sign. A time for body, but Lent is largely during Aquarius, an air sign, a time for soul.

This year I will avoid refined sugar. It will bring my body back into a balance. But the avoidance of something, anything, makes me focus on the reason for that abstinence.

Yesterday, I received a book called 'The Lenten Labyrinth', a mystery parcel in the post.
It's a collection of daily readings, reflections for the season. It will accompany me.

The weather over the last couple of days has been suitably February-ish. Yesterday, when we led a guided walk, individual fluffy flakes of snow fell from the sky for a short while.
This morning, it had snowed in nearby cities, maybe a little in Richmond since the walk to work was slushy underfoot and then some hail came down. We are expecting gales overnight and perhaps more rain, sleet or full-on snow.

Perhaps I should make those pancakes after all.