Sunday 1 June 2008

time out


I'm back from the half-term camping trip. We went over to our favourite place, in Pembrokeshire. We swam in the sea - very briefly, in my case, as it was painfully cold; we ate fish and chips; we climbed Carn Ingli, whose head was in the clouds: Katie recalled our ascent of the Pyrenees, five years ago, when we drove up into the clouds and she was a little disappointed to find that they didn't feel like cotton wool.

We did a lot of recalling; like when we stopped in Cardiff to see our old friend the woolly mammoth in the museum, which scared and fascinated Katie when she first saw it, and we've made a point of popping in to see it whenever we're in that neck of the woods. There's a lot of change in the air for Katie; a new start in a secondary school, and adolescence starting to kick in. So for a little while we found some comfort in the familiar shared experiences, and wondered what the future would bring for both of us.

7 comments:

  1. I think I'd go for the fish and chips rather than a swim at the moment. I thought that Katie was a lot older than that.

    I always used to point out the whale's jawbone in the park at Evesham to my children on our trips home. I wonder it it's still there..

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  2. You went for a swim! Brrr...

    Clouds are much prettier on the outside than the inside... maybe I'm just not seeing the silver lining clearly...

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  3. You certainly feel like you've earned the fish and chips after a dip, though...

    Darn, I came past Evesham on Friday night, because I had to go across country when the M5 was closed after an accident. Never heard of the whale jaw; that can be another expedition sometime.

    I agree, Caroline; but there's always the hope that you may emerge above the clouds and find yourself in sunshine, looking down on a cloudy sea.

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  4. Yes though if you are upside down in cloud that will take longer than if you weren't... :-)

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  5. Precious times Dru. You are laying down something solid and durable for Katie, as she moves forward in her life and you yours. Important stuff.

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  6. Making memories in the present, contemplating the past and future too, what a lovely full day.

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  7. You could have a point there, Caroline. The full version of the title is something to do with an old RAF line-shoot: "There I was, upside down in cloud without a map, nothing on the clock but the maker's name (and that was in Hindustani)...." and so on and on for quite a long time...

    It is, Jo. Another thing I looked back at while we were there, was a trip we made in April 2001, when I was plucking up the courage to 'come out'. It seems a long way away now, that doubt and fear and feeling of so-far-to-go. I hope your journey takes you at least as far.

    You said it, fineartist. :-)

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