Enlightenment

Have I, I wonder, finally attained
enlightenment? Today, everything is
as it is. The breakwater is just a breakwater.
The sea is just the sea. And the heron,
fishing in a rock pool, is nothing
more than a heron fishing, and the rock
pool itself is as clear as day. Why then is it
that I still long for the time when
the rock pool reflected my deepest
fears; the heron was the ghost of my father;
the sea, a boiling cauldron of water and salt, and
the breakwater, a border crossing
for the living and the dead?
Gordon Meade

This chap is always here, perched on his rock, surveying his kingdom. He looks old and venerable and for once didn't fly straight away. I went out for a quick yomp at 4pm, amazing how it suddenly gets dark so quickly.

An odd day. Three burly plumbers arrived just after 8am - fortunately I was just up! They have been working hard at it all day - one sorting out the new boiler which is external, one doing towel rails which are being replaced and the other cleaning radiators - that was after all three of them whacked at the range and managed to dismantle it. It's mighty heavy but very basic and actually packs down to very little. There is a sad hole where it was which will need to be addressed next. We've been promised a warm house by the end of the week which will be nice as it's currently 3C. Actually it's not too bad as we have two woodburners blazing and they do a good job, and we have hot water so all good.

And thank you for all the kind comments yesterday. Joan's husband has sent me a video of the memorial service, which was moving and joyful, and the pastor read out memories from her friends who couldn't be there - including mine, so I was there in spirit.