Good morning!
Back now from Lyme Regis renewed and ready for the week. Ali got us back in 2.5 hours on a lovely clear road. Probably should have taken 3 hours! Business plan calls this week and my mind was turning back in its direction as we drove home. Looking forward to capturing it on paper.
What a great weekend - the power of reunions and times with old friends cannot be underestimated. There are of course all the things you do in a place you are visiting, the galleries, cafes, restaurants, the walks. But most wonderful is the special time spent with friends to renew and nurture those relationships. Our differences are as great as they every were, and our funny little idiosyncrasies are as pronounced as ever. But there is a reassurance in this too, that whatever huge or small life changes we go through, we remain fundamentally who we are. Old friends are a touchstone for this, people like my school friends who have known each other for a lifetime reinforce and celebrate our sense of 'me-ness'. We are truly seen by each other.
As is always fair we drew lots for who was to share a room with whom, and although I didn't get Jude for a range of reasons we ended up sharing. In all the years we have been doing our annual pilgrimage I have never shared with her. It was great though as I had forgotten that we are both very early birds, me getting up to watch the sunrise and to write my blog and diary, and Jude to get on her walking shoes and take on the day. Jude is quite an extraordinary woman and indeed she lives by her mantra 'Carpe Diem', seize the day.
It was Jude who initiated these reunions about ten years ago and is the driving force behind making them happen. At that time she was recovering from a life threatening and hugely challenging illness and had recognised as many people do just how important friendship is. Jude is a force of nature when she gets going, and she got going. She is largely the reason year on year that this reunion happens! And she organises us like a troupe of brownies - I love it (well most of the time!) Her drive and curiosity to see as much as she can and to spend time with people she loves is very special. So we laugh, we cry (a lot), we eat, we share our lives.
So Jude considers herself to be very practical and down to earth, she is a nurse after all. She's a 'no nonsense' person, and so when yesterday morning she raced back into the flat, cheeks flushed and full of her early morning story I was struck by her sheer childlike delight in something that had happened, and I knew it must have been creative!
She was on her walk and much to her surprise was stopped by a man on the beach at 6.45 am, just as she was relishing the sunrise.
Now usually she would have exercised some caution, thinking maybe he was going to mug her or
convert her? But the man who stopped her on the beach was reassuring and she was immediately confident that he was bona fide. As it turns out she had happened upon Manonabeach.
He has a wonderful, simple and profound project which you can see here http://manonabeach.com, in which as an anonymous man he travels the length and breadth of the country's coastline, stopping and filming people he encounters. His website introduces the project.
About manonabeach "On a beach…welcome to manonabeach, where you can enjoy beach visits and a flavour of the beach when you’re not there, including interviews asking “What does the beach mean to you…?”
The series celebrates the elemental power of the beach and its profound effect on people who enjoy being where the air, land and sea meet. The beach means different things to different people, whether enhancing creativity, decisiveness and energy, being restorative and settling, part of a routine, a reference point through generations, freedom or just fun. In these narratives, you’ll see and hear people re-present their emotions, perceptions and recollections, all drawn out by the enhancing effect of the beach. manonabeach is a construct, a passive Everyman, here to bring qualitative findings directly to you, letting you draw your own conclusions from them. At manonabeach you can enjoy regular glimpses of beaches and beachgoers, wherever you are, via beach films, photographs and answers to the question “What does the beach mean to you…?”
Here are some answers from beachgoers:"
And here is my friend Jude talking on camera to manonabeach yesterday in
Lyme Regis
I love it of course that art is everywhere, in the fabric of all things. In abundant, quirky and original ways people choose to express themselves poetically. Even in the midst of the biggest challenges and hurdles - life is good! And how blessed we are to have such great friendships. Thanks to Jude, Jo, Ros, Anita and Ali for over forty years of love and friendship.
Have a fabulous week.
Ps. The family run, newly opened Purple Parsnip on Monmouth Street in Lyme Regis is a great place for lunch. We had a delicious Sunday roast and to die for cheesecake! If you are in the vicinity, its definitely worth a visit. Very welcoming and passionate team! Reasonably priced too. http://www.purpleparsnip.biz/
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| Jude |
What a great weekend - the power of reunions and times with old friends cannot be underestimated. There are of course all the things you do in a place you are visiting, the galleries, cafes, restaurants, the walks. But most wonderful is the special time spent with friends to renew and nurture those relationships. Our differences are as great as they every were, and our funny little idiosyncrasies are as pronounced as ever. But there is a reassurance in this too, that whatever huge or small life changes we go through, we remain fundamentally who we are. Old friends are a touchstone for this, people like my school friends who have known each other for a lifetime reinforce and celebrate our sense of 'me-ness'. We are truly seen by each other.
As is always fair we drew lots for who was to share a room with whom, and although I didn't get Jude for a range of reasons we ended up sharing. In all the years we have been doing our annual pilgrimage I have never shared with her. It was great though as I had forgotten that we are both very early birds, me getting up to watch the sunrise and to write my blog and diary, and Jude to get on her walking shoes and take on the day. Jude is quite an extraordinary woman and indeed she lives by her mantra 'Carpe Diem', seize the day.
It was Jude who initiated these reunions about ten years ago and is the driving force behind making them happen. At that time she was recovering from a life threatening and hugely challenging illness and had recognised as many people do just how important friendship is. Jude is a force of nature when she gets going, and she got going. She is largely the reason year on year that this reunion happens! And she organises us like a troupe of brownies - I love it (well most of the time!) Her drive and curiosity to see as much as she can and to spend time with people she loves is very special. So we laugh, we cry (a lot), we eat, we share our lives.
So Jude considers herself to be very practical and down to earth, she is a nurse after all. She's a 'no nonsense' person, and so when yesterday morning she raced back into the flat, cheeks flushed and full of her early morning story I was struck by her sheer childlike delight in something that had happened, and I knew it must have been creative!
She was on her walk and much to her surprise was stopped by a man on the beach at 6.45 am, just as she was relishing the sunrise. Now usually she would have exercised some caution, thinking maybe he was going to mug her or
convert her? But the man who stopped her on the beach was reassuring and she was immediately confident that he was bona fide. As it turns out she had happened upon Manonabeach.
He has a wonderful, simple and profound project which you can see here http://manonabeach.com, in which as an anonymous man he travels the length and breadth of the country's coastline, stopping and filming people he encounters. His website introduces the project.
About manonabeach "On a beach…welcome to manonabeach, where you can enjoy beach visits and a flavour of the beach when you’re not there, including interviews asking “What does the beach mean to you…?”
The series celebrates the elemental power of the beach and its profound effect on people who enjoy being where the air, land and sea meet. The beach means different things to different people, whether enhancing creativity, decisiveness and energy, being restorative and settling, part of a routine, a reference point through generations, freedom or just fun. In these narratives, you’ll see and hear people re-present their emotions, perceptions and recollections, all drawn out by the enhancing effect of the beach. manonabeach is a construct, a passive Everyman, here to bring qualitative findings directly to you, letting you draw your own conclusions from them. At manonabeach you can enjoy regular glimpses of beaches and beachgoers, wherever you are, via beach films, photographs and answers to the question “What does the beach mean to you…?”
Here are some answers from beachgoers:"
And here is my friend Jude talking on camera to manonabeach yesterday in
Lyme Regis
Have a fabulous week.
Ps. The family run, newly opened Purple Parsnip on Monmouth Street in Lyme Regis is a great place for lunch. We had a delicious Sunday roast and to die for cheesecake! If you are in the vicinity, its definitely worth a visit. Very welcoming and passionate team! Reasonably priced too. http://www.purpleparsnip.biz/
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