my birthday 2013

Thankyou so much for birthday messages - they meant a lot to me and made a real difference to my day - if i haven't replied personally yet i will do as soon as i can but i like to focus on each reply. So we started on Friday - lunch with my daughter - then chill out round the shops and plant indulgence in the garden centre choosing a tree...followed by an unexpected long walk part of the way home as we didn't want to wait for the bus...it was idyllic though...past fields and horses and rabbits and flower gardens and reliving memories of when my parents still lived around there....so plenty of fresh air and exercise to walk off the very indulgent lunch....good conversations that night and the prospect of my long awaited day out to the coast the next day. For the last few years I have wanted to take a ride out on the boat - something I used to enjoy years ago but not managed to do for one reason or another. Big birthday morning - my mom phoned up and sang happy birthday to me...and then I made breakfast for us all before setting out for the coast...me - kat - and dan....got there and parked up and quite a long walk to the harbour for my boat ride....but when we got there we had just missed the one hour ride - the other rides were all three and half hours long until after 5pm - so went for some good food and looking in shops etc....I insisted we found me the biggest birthday badge to wear so people would know it was my birthday - and started getting into the celebrating spirit....bought a couple of inexpensive plants from a market stall and decided we'd better walk back to leave them in the car before boat ride time. I decided that I would walk the journey back barefoot in the sea....it was magical - away from the noise and crowd of the town....walking in that liminal place where the conscious and unconscious meet - feet on the shifting sand but in the warm gentle waves - simultaneously - with the sun smiling down on us - so peaceful in that place where all the elements meet - air - earth - fire - water - perfect balance - harmony.....two of us joined in our linked imaginations and one a walking a little further out - at peace in his own thoughts....time and distance became altered from the noisy crowded mainland as we let our minds drift with the rhythmic ebb and flow of the tide...and suddenly we were almost there - the sky and the sea had been so very blue - but as we walked the last part of the journey the air turned to white mist....we got there in time to see the captain wiping off the sailing times for that day....I tried to explain to him that it was my birthday and that I waited years for this moment - but nature couldn't be persuaded....so I am still waiting for my boat ride - (the captain did suggest I should go and see him boat ride or not though! ;-))....and so....my birthday gifts were these....the peaceful healing and sensuality of nature - re-energized by sun and sea - flowers, bees and butterflies, good food and good company - I am thankful x