Resolution

                                                                                            Brighton
 

 

Dear Reader,

This week I really did have an adventure.  I went to Brighton for four days with my daughter Jessica.  We went to help look after my sister who has dementia and lives in Brighton.  But we had the time of our lives or I did anyway.  We were staying in a 'functional hotel' near the station.  And it was fine, had everything we wanted but it wasn't pretty or delightful in any way.  But I got quite fond of it and looked forward to my rest in the afternoon in a comfortable bed. Jessica got up early and ran down to the sea where she bathed at eight in the morning.  

I absolutely loved Brighton.  It is so alive and vibrant. The streets have houses in multiple colours and the people I gazed at were wonderfully different from the folk on the staid Cotswold streets that I know.  Everyone in the shops, particularly in the Lanes were very funny and friendly. Apparently the Lanes are very famous, they are small roads full of fantastic goods, silver jewellery, second hand and vintage clothes, cafes and antique shops.  In fact I would like to live in Brighton and if I wasn't so old that moving is unthinkable, that is where I would go. 

                                                                                      *

From John Clare, September 26th, in Northants, 1824

'Took a walk in the fields, heard the harvest cricket and shrew-mouse uttering their little chickering songs among the crackling stubble.'

From Gilbert White, September 25h, Hampshire, 1772

'Vast tempest in the night that broke boughs from the trees, and blowed down much of the apples and pears.'

                                                                                        *

Resolution

I need to breathe salt sea air,
run down to the shell-strewn beach,
let the sharp east wind blow through my hair,
run for the horizon away out of reach.

I need the sound of the seagull's cry,
the music of waves rolling on sand
to help with questions of whether and why
I should change my direction, and stand

up for what I believe in.
I need the strength I know I will find
on that quiet sunfilled beach,
to be resolute, make up my mind.

Enveloped in peace, silence and sea
I will whisper to the listening wind,
"I have made the decision, watch over me,
I'm taking the path I have chosen."

                                                                                *

With very best wishes, Patricia