The hunched back of Notre Dame

I threw my back out yesterday. I have an old injury which comes back to haunt me about once a year, this time while standing in line at a dépanneur happily whistling along to something they were playing on the radio. So it’s a few days of bed rest & hot water bottles for me. The timing isn’t great, since I have plans to leave Montréal early Sunday morning to go home for the holidays and spend time with my family, but then I suppose it never is. Hopefully my gifts will all be in a finished or at least transportable state by then.

I should have been in bed last night too, but instead I hobbled over to the Notre Dame Basilica to see Händel’s Messiah. The performance was good, but the soloists weren’t as exciting as I had hoped. Then again, the performance I saw last year featured Susie Leblanc, Ben Heppner, and Daniel Taylor, so it was hard to beat. (Not to mention that it was much more fun for me personally because I was in the choir.) The church, on the other hand, was truely stunning. It actually reminded me of Westminster Abbey in London.

For most of my life I’ve lived in the same city as my immediate family, and we’re pretty close, so I’m really excited to go back home next week. Christmas in particular has always been a great family bonding time, so despite my devout atheism this is a wonderful time of the year for me. But first, I need to get better. Back to bed for me…