I had my sixth anti-COVID shot yesterday at the drug store, and I have to say that hypodermic injection technique has really improved around here over the last few years. The pharmacist who did the honours sneaked that needle into and out of my skin with such skill that I felt only the faint sting of the serum as it elbowed its way into the muscle tissue.

Practice makes perfect, I guess.

All Souls’ Day is 2 November, and St James’s had its annual memorial service last night. The congregation was unusually focussed, and for the first time I saw a bunch of Anglicans enter into that special Zen state that develops from fully united, and invested, group singing. The hymn was “Abide With Me”. In the throes of the last stanza, I saw why hymn-singing is so critical to Christian worship — they were experiencing genuine uplift.

Meanwhile, I was carrying the alto line and concentrating on not coughing. It’s leaf-mould season.