The staycation; land, sea and me.

 

I’ve taken a break from this blog for a staycation; interwoven with salt water, forest bathing and butterfly spotting. It was hot in Ireland. I often sat under an umbrella, unable to put even one toe onto the baking sand. All the windows and doors had to be open wide, day and night. Everything scorched. The green turned to gold in the middle of July. It was quite magical.

There were some challenges that kept me here, in my rooted spot. Longing for the open road, at times I floundered. But then the miracle of sea swimming, the beauty of the rocky cliffs and the bluest of blue skies would redeem my soul. Nothing heals the wilted like the sea. Nothing fills the mind with clear space like the cool Atlantic. Yes because it was hot, but equally in any weather. The sea always performs the same trick. A wild swim with wind and waves in Annestown, a soft balmy swim out to the rocks in Garrarus, or a rainy deep harbour swim in Boat Strand.

Earlier in the summer I had worried about the land. I feared for the conservation of butterflies. But eventually they all came back to life in abundance. Even the Painted Lady all the way from Africa turned up in August.

And then there was the best part, the spirit of the place grew stronger and seemed to inhabit me in a new way. The land, the sea, the me. Part of it all. Breathing this world in. Breathing me out again. In a closer and closer bond.

It’s the time now for the turning. Green to gold. Light to shade. Warm to cool. Summer to Autumn. And it’s time to take to the road for a while. To drive out west and perch on the farthest rocky points. A change of view changes everything. I will turn my self 90 degrees in a westerly direction. I will breathe in the endless Atlantic. Feel the biting wind. Prepare for darker days.

Because it’s not over yet. Autumn has it’s own promises to keep, and the open road beckons……..