Tallin, Estonia It was my fault that we were running late.  I had wandered into a shop off the square and the others were waiting for me and by the time I got back to the meeting spot we were about ten minutes late.  We rushed to get to the church on the opposite side of the square only to discover that we were in the wrong place. Our guide doubled back to the other side of the square and brought us to a 12th century church right across the street from the wool and linen shop where I had been dawdling.  The concert had already begun and we snuck into the back of the church, the only seats we could get gave no view of the front of the church where the musicians were performing and we had to lean this way and that around columns and pillars.  I worried the others would blame me.  I worried that they felt cheated.   I felt so bad that I had made us late from the beginning, even though there was confusion about which church was which.  And I couldn’t see the musicians so I gave up trying to see them, the others in my group though craned and pitched forward in the ancient wooden pews. The man played the lute and the woman played the hurdy gurdy.  And her voice was so pure.  Not terribly light in tone, but clear and rich.  Like caramel.  And they performed songs that were hundreds of years old, even a love song written by Henry the 8th.  And I closed my eyes to listen but I couldn’t concentrate because I still felt bad about being late so I opened my eyes and I looked to my right because it was the only view that was clear.  I looked to my right and discovered the light coming through the stained glass window at the back of the church.  Lovely orange, green, pink and blue light splayed across the wall from the late afternoon sun. The others in my group soon one by one discovered the light.   We all just looked to the back of the church away from the musicians staring at the colored light on the wall, listening to the caramel of her voice.   And I breathed in the smell of the wood and the centuries worth of life and faith that had waxed and waned in that tiny church.   And again I was reminded there are no mistakes, certainly not here in Estonia.

Tallin, Estonia

It was my fault that we were running late.  I had wandered into a shop off the square and the others were waiting for me and by the time I got back to the meeting spot we were about ten minutes late.  We rushed to get to the church on the opposite side of the square only to discover that we were in the wrong place. Our guide doubled back to the other side of the square and brought us to a 12th century church right across the street from the wool and linen shop where I had been dawdling. 

The concert had already begun and we snuck into the back of the church, the only seats we could get gave no view of the front of the church where the musicians were performing and we had to lean this way and that around columns and pillars.  I worried the others would blame me.  I worried that they felt cheated.   I felt so bad that I had made us late from the beginning, even though there was confusion about which church was which.  And I couldn’t see the musicians so I gave up trying to see them, the others in my group though craned and pitched forward in the ancient wooden pews.

The man played the lute and the woman played the hurdy gurdy.  And her voice was so pure.  Not terribly light in tone, but clear and rich.  Like caramel.  And they performed songs that were hundreds of years old, even a love song written by Henry the 8th. 

And I closed my eyes to listen but I couldn’t concentrate because I still felt bad about being late so I opened my eyes and I looked to my right because it was the only view that was clear.  I looked to my right and discovered the light coming through the stained glass window at the back of the church. 

Lovely orange, green, pink and blue light splayed across the wall from the late afternoon sun.

The others in my group soon one by one discovered the light.   We all just looked to the back of the church away from the musicians staring at the colored light on the wall, listening to the caramel of her voice.   And I breathed in the smell of the wood and the centuries worth of life and faith that had waxed and waned in that tiny church.  

And again I was reminded there are no mistakes, certainly not here in Estonia.

  1. Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS
  2. Aperture: f/5.9
  3. Exposure: 1/100th
  4. Focal Length: 20mm
  1. Date Posted Icon 19th July 2010
  2. Notes Icon Notes: 1
    3. Tags Icon #Tallin#Estonia#Mistakes
  1. jennifergracecook posted this