Glanalaw - delighting in pure song

Just got back last night from what was probably the most wonderful week of my life - spring break choir tour in Italy.  It was a whirlwind trip for sure, 9 days gone, 5 concerts/worship services, 6 cities, and innumerable sites visited, but I loved almost every minute of it.  Italy is definitely my favourite of the foreign countries I've visited.  I didn't want to leave and I can't wait to go back! I hope to post more in-depth about the trip over the next few days - I took over 2,000 photographs and several videos, and I journalled at length so that I could share with my family and friends - but for now, because I'm tired and because my body still thinks it's almost 5 in the morning, instead of not quite 11 at night, I'll just hang up a few of my favourite photos and leave it at that.  (A parting note - none of my photos are edited in any way.  This is just how things really look!) The Colosseum, Rome. A random dead-end street, with potted plants and s...

After a week of absolutely lovely weather, March decided that we needed some more winter, and the latter half of this week has been cold and stormy, with fierce winds and torrential rain.  But there is hope for spring!  The forsythia is blooming, the hedges looking like bright gold pompoms in a dreary landscape, and as I was walking back from class on Friday I came across a line of daffodils, nodding cheerfully, completely unfazed by the wind.  I couldn't resist - I had to pick a few! The view from my window may be uninspired, the sky iron grey and unfriendly, and the need for our window draft-blockers still strong, but I have a little jar full of sunshine and hope.  What more could I ask for? I WANDERED lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. ...