A bit dim today – I might have gone on to bed, but for your invitation to pontificate on grammar: irresistible.

 

C. came, and we walked once around the garden (2196 steps so far), pausing to harvest some wild garlic leaves to make a crust for my lunchtime lamb cutlets. I haven’t done much else. Shandy, I started to try to find Wives and Daughters on Youtube and got diverted to the Vatican. I think I have acquired a plenary indulgence by being there for the Pope’s blessing Urbi et Orbi. His henchman specifically said that receiving the blessing through modern media counted just as much as being in St Peter’s.

 

Otherwise a quiet day. No knitting. Alexander rang up, and we had a good time discussing the forthcoming election. You can’t imagine how much I am enjoying myself. I always took an interest, of course, and sometimes tried to guide my husband one way or another, without much success. But this time – I’ve got a vote! It makes such a difference. I live in an interesting constituency, according to the BBC – that helps a good deal.

 

Now, grammar. You’re all right, starting with your nun, Mary Lou. You don’t need me. In the Agnus Dei, we are addressing the Lamb of God, “You who take away…” Or “taketh..” if you prefer -- that's a specific second person singular ending. Chris, I think that to involve the Trinity here is more weight than English grammar can bear.

 

I learned grammar from my mother (“If you imply what I infer/ You’re brighter than I thought you were.”) who presumably got it from her mother. Her father – my maternal grandfather – moved his lips while reading, and is unlikely to have been the source of much grammar. His wife had been a teacher for a few years before succumbing to matrimony. She came from a clever family – the chemistry lab at Mount Holyoke is named for her sister Emma. I remember her, of course, but only as a grandmotherly presence. I wish I had paid more attention.

Tamar (comment yesterday) I will remember what you say. I don't like to bother a doctor just now.