October.
18 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: ben howard, faith, keep your head up, scotland, seasons, soul surfer, surfing
I’ve joked before that I need an “App” that co-ordinates: my diary; my friends’ diaries and; good surf conditions. As the seasons change, I still feel the need to be out there – to embrace the elements and feel connected in some way with something altogether bigger than my daily routine.
With Magic Seaweed claiming that there was “no incoming swell” the other weekend, we ended up ambling through the countryside on a Sunday afternoon as the kids slept, cosy, in the back of the car. The fields were white into harvest and the hills had a purple hue. The sky was clear and even the birds seemed to be being whipped along as gusts made sheets of leaves dance across the road with the scratching sound of dried parchment as they ran in flash-mobs for the safety of the verge rather than the oncoming danger of the car.
My mind turned to the simple pleasure I find in wrapping a soft scarf around my neck and fidgeting with the worn linings of my jacket pockets which are now bereft of purpose.
Much as I love urban life and all its contrasting chaos and rhythm, I need time and space to let my senses be restored. To breathe in deep. To stoke the embers.
Three weeks on and the evenings are beginning to get darker. The bike ride home tonight involved a rainy headwind which resulted in the first “head freeze” of the season. On entering the inviting glow of our porch - my glasses were steamed up and covered in rain drops, my ears were numb and there was the palpable sensation of blood pumping around my body. We can be a nation of moaners and, despite a house that had been turned upside down by two children who had been cooped up on the first day of the October break, I felt lucky just to be alive in that moment.
Sometimes, I just need those things in order to strip away the layers that so easily separate or insulate me from my surroundings or from the world outside my door and just outside of my conscious life at times.
Someone sent me a link to this music video on Facebook this morning. They knew I’d like it. I hope that you do too. Get out there with the people who are important to you, engage and enjoy.
