Nine lessons and carols at King's College Chapel on Christmas Eve, part 2

As the rain ricocheted off the surface of the A14 and I listened to the pleas of the traffic reporter not to attempt anything but the most important of journeys I mused on the merits of choosing this particular year to strike this particular adventure off my very particular never-too-late list.  At six a.m. as the alarm went off on my iphone, I had lain in the enveloping warmth and comfort of my bed tucked tightly into a ball and listened to the rain drumming on the velux window.  I had closed my eyes and swore at myself for remembering to charge up my mobile phone.  With no alarm I had no doubt that I would have missed the narrow window of opportunity which would give me just enough time to pull on my layers of fleece and water proof, make my sandwiches and head out of the door.  If you were not inside the quad at Kings by nine at the latest it wasn’t likely you’d get in to the service.  I had over an hour’s drive and at least five or six hours of queuing.   I lay there, pushing it to the limit and considered the trade-offs.  An hour’s driving across rain sodden and possibly flooded countryside and then the long minutes ticking by getting increasingly damp and bored.  The other option was to hit the shops for some last minute compulsive purchasing and a nice lunch at Zizzi whilst enjoying a couple of glasses of wine.  As I rolled over in bed I clearly felt the weight of the angels on one shoulder and Old Nick on the other.  It was sorely tempting to stick my head under the covers and convince myself I would do it next year instead.  It was warm, it was dark, it was nearly Christmas. But because of that very fact, something, somewhere, prodded my sense of motivation and achievement and 40 minutes later I found myself out on the dark road, almost with the world to myself, pleased I had made the effort.    Nine lessons and Carols at Kings College Chapel on Christmas Eve, about to get a very big tick.  And as the miles passed, as the rain got harder and the dawn creaked over the horizon in front of me I forged on fuelled with chocolate and coffee.  Here I was, alone, on another adventure.