The phone finally rang

[watervole]

Richard was working in Lulworth Cove this morning and asked if I'd like to go with him. I hesitated. I haven't fancied going out much recently and I slept very badly last night. But the weather forcast was good and I figured I could walk along the cliff top.

I'm glad I went. It was beautiful morning. We set up the Wildlife Trust stand with a group of other charities and organisations campaigning for the marine enviroment. I was talking to a young man on the NERC (National Environment Research Council) when the phone call finally came. Bless him for being sensitive and understanding (I'd mentioned that it might happen). He didn't drown me in unwanted sympathy, just quietly went and bought me a packet of much needed tissues.

I had a good cry, then I went for a walk. The sun was sparkling on the sea as though it had been sprinkled with fairy lights. I've rarely seen it more beautiful. I sat for a long time, just looking at the sea and the flowers and butterflies. This is a good place to associate with Rosalie's memory.

http://www.lulworthcovebandb.co.uk/bandbpics/Lulworth-cove-aerial-2.jpg

Richard was wonderful as always. When you've been married this long, you know what's needed. He gave me a steady shoulder to cry on and told me that some water voles had been sighted in the local duck pond.

I went in search of water voles and had a happy half hour watching small rodents poking their heads out of the reeds and swimming across the water. They were actually young rats rather than water voles (longer nose, more visible ears and longer tails) but what the heck, I enjoyed watching them anyway.

I wandered around the village and the coastline. For a miracle, the scone I bought was home-made and crusty, the postcards were cheap and while walking round a gift shop I found a scarf that reminded me of a skirt Rosalie once owned, so I bought that and used it to keep my shoulders from burning in the sun.

She'll be missed. She leaves behind her husband, two little boys, her twin, two other sisters, a brother and both her parents.

I shall go to Lulworth again - it will remind me of her in good ways.

I think I will be able to sleep tonight.
If you have happy memories of your own, this is a good time to share them.

Comments

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I heard this poem for the first time recently. It speaks to me about life, and the beauty of the places of the world.

----

Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

----

Kat W

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I know two Kat Ws. Which one are you? Or do I now know three?

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I'm the one that bellydances, if that helps.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

It does indeed. Good to see you. I still remember the day we spent walking around Edinburgh.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

That was a good day. I think you may have been the first in my campaign to introduce everybody I know to the delights of 'Plaisir Du Chocolat'.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I still remember that wonderful smell.