pankake day

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it

Oscar Wilde

Yesterday we threw ourselves into the Great British tradition of Pancake day. From 4.30 to 9.30 a steady stream of Canadians and Australians passed through our home consuming what the locals insist on calling 'creps' (sic). Over here a pancake is small and thick and fluffy, much like we understand Scotch Pancakes to be. We had savory ones with cheese and ham, chicken and guacamole and sweet ones too. I always think you can't beat lemon juice and sugar but berries and whipped cream was popular as was Nutella. Someone even had a Bananana but I haven't worked out who so they have escaped punishment so far. Mike from school put in a stalwart performance behind the pan, flipping with gusto, ease and elan; a marvelous debut to the pancake cooking world an a skill I hope he will take with him to Japan when he leaves on Sunday to get married.

No one managed more than four pancakes. We missed you Cooper.

Another Great British Tradition was the comment I heard several times around the room along the lines of "these are great, aren't they; we should do them more often!" Of course they are, and of course we won't.

Today has been Ash Wednesday. You really notice it at a Catholic school because all the students are taken to church one grade at a time for a mass and come back with the sign of the cross on their foreheads drawn in Ash. I didn't go as none of my classes were scheduled to go during maths, but I am going to our local church tonight. It seems odd to me that in all these years of going to church I have never been to an Ash Wednesday service or a Palm Sunday service, so I'm looking forward to it.

Also, I've been fasting today, which I thought would be interesting and it certainly has been. Every now and then throughout the day I have felt hungry (more often as the day wore on) and then remembered why I was fasting, prayed a bit and reflected on Easter, Jesus, my faith and a whole bunch of other spiritual musings. Then Vicky asked me to bake cookies. Not an easy job for a hungry man. They are chocolate ones too, so I'm going to have to work really hard on not being tempted as I put them in the oven now. I'll let you know how I do...