... that I had wished some Americans a happy Thanksgiving yesterday and mentioned to them that it was a tradition which we had not adopted here and that it was therefore sometimes difficult to be an American abroad on Thanksgiving. He thanked me for my concern but remarked that an American tradition which we had adopted was that of Black Friday! Black Friday - that day of mayhem and madness which descends upon the shop-going and internet-surfing populace. We in the Cathedral, I went on to say, were here celebrating not a day of Blackness but a day of light, the beginning of Advent, the season when Christians look towards the coming of the light in the form of Christ at Christmas. A Christingle, which all the pupils in Pre-Prep and Nursery had made, is constructed from an orange which represents the world, four sticks of dried fruit or marshmallows representing the four principal directions and the candle in the middle representing the light that Christ will bring to the world. Forms 3 and 4 explained to us the tradition of the Christingle, and Pre-Prep and Nursery lit their candles and sang a song about the coming of Christ. As the candles were lit, the pupils’ faces became suffused with the warm light of the candles, flickering in the darkness of the Cathedral. One parent was slightly sceptical about giving a group of very young children a set of flaming candles, but all passed without a hitch! The service was followed by two exquisite pieces of music performed by Andrew and Splendour, the first a jaunty and energy-filled piece on the Cello and the latter a lyrical singing of a solo from the Messiah by Handel. It was all a very fitting start to the Christmas season. As ever all our college choirs will be singing carol services, Pembroke on Sunday at 5.30, Worcester on Tuesday at 6.00 and the Cathedral Choir on Saturday at 6.00. They will all be memorable occasions. I am thrilled that so many of our boys have taken on the transformative role of Chorister.

I have just enjoyed a session in the Kitchen with one of the enrichment groups. The task was two-fold, to make Rocky Road, that most indulgent and sugar-filled of confections, and to prepare some bread for the boarders. The creation of the Rocky Road was a young boy’s delight; smashed up biscuit, marshmallows, raisins and then a sauce of chocolate and treacle. Once all these elements had been added together, the stirring began. Peter, our Head Chef, had given us a huge bowl into which all these delicious ingredients had been poured. Together four boys took a large spoon and started to mix, just as if they were the witches from Macbeth. I started to intone the words from the play: Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble!” as the boys stirred the gloopy mixture in time to the insistent rhythm of the words. Given that it was not a concoction of snake filets and newts’ eyes but instead a combination of delicious ingredients, and given that the stirrers were charming CCCS pupils rather than supernatural hags, there was not much in common, but the determination to create a product which would have a dramatic effect was the same! The bread was kneaded with great enthusiasm and then rolled flat using almost gymnastic power. I predict that the boarders will be feasting tonight. We know where to look if we need catering staff!

We have been reminded this week that Oxford is in a floodplain as the waters have risen on an almost biblical scale. Roads have been flooded and Christ Church Meadow has been transformed into a lake, though we were still able to host matches on our playing fields, unlike New College whose grounds were underwater. Then followed the cold. As I stood shivering on Brewer Street on one of those mornings in my thick coat and fur-filled gloves, a boy came running up the road, his breath puffing out around him like a steam engine. As he arrived in front of me I realised he was wearing shorts – even on one of the coldest days of the year. “Gosh,” I said, “Do you always wear shorts?” “Yes sir, every day. I like shorts, but sometimes I regret it!” Oddly his positive smile suggested that today was not one of those days!