Thursday 3 November 2016

a gift

So...JBoy was away at the weekend at the Most marvellous Respite Centre where he had fun, created mischief, stole towels and generally had a ball. While he was away, M and I were given a present. This gift was a weekend away....just us. We went to a place full of walks, woodland and wonderment. We had a lovely little lodge/pod/chalet..I am not precisely sure what it is officially called....which overlooked nothing but trees and more trees. M was a very happy bunny. We unpacked our meagre weekend belongings and settled down for a coffee from the splendid coffee machine. On opening the door, nature rushed up to investigate. Clearly used to the sight and sounds of humankind, we were visited by squirrels galore, geese, swans, ducks and a rabbit popped by to say hello. Once we had communed with nature for a bit we decided to explore our surroundings. We had a lovely long walk, encountering only squirrels and the occasional coot. It was surprising to find ourselves so alone when the site was jam packed with excited families, away for the final weekend of their half term. They were all doing other things such as swimming, archery and crazy golf. Our weekend took on much the same pattern...we walked while everyone else was busy elsewhere. We explored the entire woodland area and walked by the perimeter fence so went as far as we could. It felt a bit surreal...as if we were in some alternative world while outside the fence , ordinary life continued apace. Maybe it is because I now work in a bookshop and have absorbed bookiness , or maybe it is because I have an overactive , hyperactive, imagination that I began to construct a story in my head whereby we were in a place where all was jolly and bright...sometimes enforcedly so. The staff in the shops were incredibly jolly and everyone of them wished us a happy day and instructed us to enjoy our stay......so, there we were,fenced in, no cars (all neatly parked  in an enormous car park), sounds of happy children , nature in abundance, smiley people, food available at almost any time you wanted it,  while outside the fence, the humdrum sound of tractors and cars.....which one of us was the free one??????......could be a deep philosophical question. Discuss among yourselves!!!
All in all we ended the weekend refreshed and a little weary after so much unaccustomed JBoy-free walking. JBoy had had a fab time too ....hurrah.
The End

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