47-52-2014: Two, if by sea

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November 22, 2014 – Both Saturday and Sunday started off relatively crappy, but as the mornings wore on both days, the clouds blew on, the rains dried up, and the sun came out. When the wet season settles in, and that’s usually October to May, when the sun comes out you take advantage of it, you make sure you get out for a walk on the beach.

On a sunny weekend, in November, walking the seashore….there is nothing but smiles as far as you can see. Down on Ambleside many people had come out to walk the beach, soak in the falling sun, feel the ocean breeze, and enjoy the salt air. On the pier were people fishing for crab, casting fishing rods for who knows what finfish. Seagulls and pigeons stuck close in the hopes that something would get tossed their way, and some settled themselves to absorb the fleeting warmth in the sun.

Down the shore a ways were these two interesting concrete chairs. Functional art. Empty save for the sunshine. Waiting for someone to settle in and watch the sun slip beyond the horizon. Thought provoking.

One of my colleagues at work suggested that I do something to honour Mom on the anniversary of her death two years ago. Two things she loved were gardening and walking Ambleside, or really anywhere by the ocean. She loved the smell of the ocean, dogs racing through the sand, seagulls mournfully calling, the sounds of the waves on the beach.

Unfortunately Friday was in the throes of a monsoon so i didn’t do either that day. But when Saturday presented sunshine, the beach was in order. When I walk on Ambleside I can still feel Mom and how happy she was when we came here. These two chairs made me pause. I think Mom and I would have settled there for a bit if she’d still been here. Maybe she was already there somehow….

I think there is nowhere that makes me happier than by the sea, I will never live anywhere away from the ocean. Not by choice.