Sky watching: Dawn

The weather here in South Yorkshire has turned very cold.  The high countryside where we usually walk has seen its first snowfall.  We, too, live relatively high up, but are sheltered in the lee of the hill. It's time to put up the long, heavy curtains at the front door and give thanks for a warm home. We wake at the same time every day just before the dawn breaks.  Sometimes it's been raining all night.  What sort of weather will we have during the day, I wonder? There are old sayings about the weather that would give a rough indication.  I wonder if they are reliable in these days of what seems to be abnormal weather?

Here it is at dawn yesterday and this morning - two very different skies and two very different days regarding the weather.  Yesterday was frosty, then wet and very cold. Today it's turned out sunny and dry and also very cold.

                                           6th December

                                           7th December

Tomorrow will be an even earlier start as I'm going to York with a group where we shall visit York Minster and the historic centre.

'Angels from the realms of glory...'

Angels from the realms of glory

Wing your flight o'er all the earth.

Ye who sang creation's story, 

Now proclaim Messiah's birth;

Come and worship,

Come and worship,

Worship Christ the new born King.

This well-known carol will be sung in carol services during the coming Christmas season.

James Montgomery (1771-1854) who wrote it was a British editor, poet, hymn-writer and prominent figure in the Sunday school movement who was born in Scotland of missionary parents who lived and died in Sheffield.  He was also known for humanitarian causes such as campaigns to end slavery and the exploitation of child chimney sweeps.

The above memorial window to the hymn writer is in Sheffield Anglican Cathedral and shows a host of angels and St. Matthew, Moses, David and St. John, four witnesses acknowledging God's glory throughout time and eternity. His monument stands in the churchyard outside the window.

He holds a Bible in his hand and engraved are extracts from his poems, 'The Grave' and 'Prayer'.