My summer holidays this year have been relatively tame (not that I didn’t enjoy them a lot): a couple of nights in the Cotswolds and then a couple more with friends near Cologne.
One oddity, when I do go away, is that – however quiet business has been up till then – enquiries suddenly descend on me.
A few years back, the Gordon family were literally on the doorstep with our suitcases, about to go away (also to Germany), when the phone rang. My wife ordered me to take the call, and it turned out to be an inquiry for a job I was later to get. So that worked well.
Similarly, this year, the day we left, I was contacted about putting together a wedding ceremony in Hertfordshire for a Chinese couple. The downside is that I have incredibly little notice, but luckily I have become quite proficient at coping with “lastminute.com” ceremonies. I think I’m going to manage it!
While we were away, I was also contacted about a small wedding in someone’s home in just over a month. Well, that would not normally be too much of a challenge to me. However, what I omitted to mention was that my correspondent seems very laid-back about responding, and this ceremony is supposed to take place in Wisconsin! At the time of writing, I don’t know if this will come to pass at all.
I was also asked to do a burial service on the one day I had between my two trips – I guess that timing is king!
And just before our holiday, I was booked for another last minute ceremony for a couple of weeks from now. Holiday or no holiday, business could be worse …
Strange, perhaps, but that is typical of the flurry of activity that seems to accompany my modest holiday plans!
Mind you, if it’s going to bring me more work, maybe I should be taking more holidays!