Boxing Day On The Beach

It was a sunny day, and I went out for a drive to Burnham, where there is a restaurant I thought Id go to for lunch. Although it had been snowing for much to the last week, the roads were wet but fine, and the sun shining on the snowy fields made the countryside very scenic. Even so, some of the side roads seemed to be still covered with ice, so I was thinking I’d stay to the main roads where I could.

After a while I arrived at the place I was heading for, but it was shut! Yes, I could have phoned them first, but it was a last minute decision. Since I was here, I turned around and went back, and turned into Beach Road to get to the beach. This road was slushy, and there were a number of cars coming away, so I waited for them to come along before I went down the road. When I got to the parking lot, I was amazed at the number of cars there - and also by the large puddles and mud!

I looked for somewhere to park that wasn't too wet, changed into my walking shoes, and put on my hat and gloves before venturing out. I set out across the quagmire and up through the sand dunes onto the beach.

There are indeed a number of people here, but the first thing I notice is a memorial plaque to someone drowned on this beach - a solemn reminder that the sea is not to be taken lightly. The tide is quite high and I walk on fairly firm sand, collecting some shells as I go. There is a large piece of drift wood - more like a small tree - in the middle of the beach - people are using this as a photo opportunity, and it does look strange, rising up out of the sand like a swimmer out of the water. Ahead I see what I take to be a kite being flown - as I get closer I see that it is a form of kite, but it’s being used by someone who is standing on a kind of skate board, and is sand-surfing!

I walk around an inlet and then up over the sand dunes into a sandy area with tough long grass - I think that this must be a blissful area in the summer, and even now in mid winter is exudes a feeling of calm serenity. It also shields me form the wind, and as I mount the sand dune to go back onto the beach I’m hit again by the cold blast.

Coming down to the beach again, one of the many dogs that are here on the beach bounds up towards me - I go to greet him, but he veers off at the last moment - just as well because I then see that he is soaking wet from the sea! I re-trace my steps and then go past the path I came in on and further down the beach. Just to one side I see a couple of buckets left there - has someone been building sandcastles? And why did they leave their tools here?

By now the sun is starting to sink below the dunes, making for a dramatic skyline, and it is noticeable that more birds are flying over the beach coming in from their feeding grounds to roust for the night. Before it gets too dark, I turn and go back to the path leading to the parking lot. But as I climb the dunes for the last time and look over towards the setting sun, I see an enormous flock of birds away in the distance. I stop to watch as they swoop across the sky to their rousting grounds, a fitting end to a wild walk on the beach.

The perfect rainbow

This morning I had an errand to run about a mile and a half away, so I decided to walk there and back - it was cloudy, yes, and the forecast was for rain, but I needed the exercise and it’s mostly a fun walk.

I headed out onto the Quay and along towards the fishing boats, and was hit by the cold North wind - just as well I had my thick coat on! There were a few spots of rain in the wind, and I did briefly think of turning back, but it was nothing too bad - nothing like the conditions the fishermen would see out in the North Sea today.

I cut through the gravel car park and then through the back streets that form the quickest walking route to South Gates. This is not the “historic” part of Lyn, but still old - mostly Victorian/Edwardian I’d guess, but lots of different styles of housing, even a few newer developments squeezed into the spaces between the older houses. There is a fascinating juxtaposition here; All Saints church - a classic 14th century building reaching up to the heavens - is almost totally enclosed by a late 20th century utilitarian housing development - a real contract of architectural styles.

Walking on through this area I get to the South Gates and past that I attempt to cross the road - not an easy thing in the morning “rush” hour, when the traffic going in to town just wants to keep on crawling in, and not leaving any space for a pedestrian to cross. But eventually I do get over the other side safely, and start along the long straight Hardwick Road. This starts off with some Victorian villa - each one named and still having the air of middle class respectability about them. At the end of these is the Cemetery running away to either side, and then the road becomes a bridge over the railway. This higher vantage point - which is unusual around Lynn - gives a view of the large stores here, one of which is my destination this morning. The clouds are scudding past as I cut across Tesco’s parking lot to the one I’m going to, and for a few moments I'm out of the weather.

Coming out of the shop I’m suddenly hit full in the face with a really cold north wind, as it starts to rain in earnest and soon my glasses are totally covered with water. But, just as I get across the parking lot and emerge onto the road again it stops raining - there is a bus stop here and I could wait - but I’d decided on a walk, and it might, in any case, take as long to get a bus from here.

I retrace my route, and as I come within sight of the South Gates, I’m suddenly aware of a thick, dark grey cloud ahead of me - should I have waited for the bus after all? Just then, however, I see a rainbow - a perfect arch from left to right across the sky, deeply colored at the ends and lighter overhead. I stop for a moment to just admire the beauty of it - yes, it means rain, but the rain is worth it for this spectacle.

I negotiate the crossings again with a smile on my face, and even as the rain starts to really fall, I’m at least content that I saw some of the wonders of nature, even when I wasn't looking for them.

Reiki day

I’m willing to try most things (but that’s another story) and when a friend offered to do a Reiki with me I accepted.

Now I’d heard the term Reiki, and I knew it was some sort of Alternative Therapy, but that was the extent of my knowledge, so I quickly went on to the interweb to see what I’d just agreed to. This is not, as I’d assumed, some form of ancient art, but was actually “invented” in the early 1900’s (different sources say different years, but all agree the general time frame). It is either a way of channelling life energy to promote healing, or a method of stress reduction and relaxation, depending on who you read. In any case, it’s been practised for a while now, is not a religion, and what harm could it do?

So Saturday morning I set out and get the bus to Wisbech and was met by my friend and her dog, and we went round to her flat. She is a level one practitioner of Reiki and has her certificate on the wall to prove it! We first have a cup of coffee (de-caf) and a chat and then we are ready to start. I lie down and close my eyes and she puts on some soothing oriental music and washes her hands with some sort of aromatic oils before we start.

I have tried meditation many times before, and often it is hard to keep focus on something other than my racing thoughts. As I lie there and she places her hands on my head I concentrate on my breathing, the sounds, and the sensation. After a while she moves her hands to the sides of my head, and this is comforting in a strange way. Then she moves to my neck area, and here I suddenly find I have a feeling of panic - it is not a specific fear OF anything - I don’t think she is going to strangle me or anything - but I have to really concentrate on my breathing before it subsides. For the rest of the session I am relaxed and calm - there is one awkward moment where her CD sticks, but apart from that it is a half hour of serenity.

I have meditated before - and know I would benefit from doing it more and more often. This felt like a really calming meditation, and there were only a few times when my mind wondered. During the session a picture came into my mind of a face hovering over me. Only the bottom half of the face was in focus, just the mouth and chin, and this apparition was somehow comforting and - well I’ve used the word a lot but it’s the right one - calming. And I also felt the warm light that is there in my higher powered moments showing me that all is well.

So, I have no idea about any healing issues, but it was certainly a wonderful experience and I’d be pleased to be my friend’s practice subject again. And in my web searching I came across this passage, which I really like and will end this short piece with:

Just for today:
Do not be angry
Do not worry
Be grateful
Work with integrity
Be kind to others and to yourself.

We haz wind

It seems to be always windy here on the river. Today the wind is from the south, and I could tell that before I got up, just from the different noises the cottage makes.

A south wind hits the side of my place, and the big sash window that looks over the communal garden rattles - it was that noise that I heard in the night that told me the direction of the wind. The bathroom too is noisy with the wind blowing down the vent for the extractor fan. Up here on the top floor the kitchen window also faces out over the communal garden, and whilst it was not rattling, you could really hear the wind outside.

Up here in the main room I am just watching the trees being blown around - you can even see the grass on the lawn blowing in the wind!! Most of the trees I can see are evergreens, but there is one deciduous tree there barely hanging on to its yellowing leaves. And the birds are having fun trying for all they are worth into the wind, and not getting anywhere! But at least it’s sunny at the moment, even though the forecast says there is a 50% chance of rain.

Today is the first of my 2 night shift this week, so I need a nap this afternoon before that - I’m NOT going to try to do much between the night shifts as I did last week, when I got just SO exhausted!

The thing with the suit

Way back in a different lifetime - before I started sitting on the Dock of King’s Lynn - I used to work in an office, and the dress code was that men wore suit, shirt and tie.

When I first started work, I had just the one suit, and I had to wear this every day, but I always tried, even then, to have a different shirt and tie. Eventually, I got to putting on a different suit each day. Some people who do that have 5 suits, so the same ones turned up on the same day each week. Learning from this, I had 7 - this meant that I didn’t always wear a particular suit on a particular day. And I had a range of smart shirts and ties to go with them.

Now, for most of this time I was overweight - and I really didn’t like how I looked in a suit jacket - it looked to me more like a corset than anything!!!! I wore a suit every business day for most of my working life, and never, NEVER really felt good in them. Eventually my place of work moved to “smart casual” so the suits were relegated to the back of the wardrobe, only to be got out on high days and holidays.

And then all that life stuff happened, and here I was moving to Lynn with just what I choose to carry - and suits did not make that list! As anyone who sees me around town knows, I live nowadays mainly in jeans and tee-shirts. I do have a couple of smart pairs of trousers, a couple nice shirts, and a light jacket that I wear when these are appropriate, and, of course, my uniform for work - but a suit? Just not my style!

But then last week, I was going to a memorial service, and nothing I had seemed appropriate. CERTAINLY not jeans, and although the smart trousers would pass inspection, my jacket was way too informal for me to feel comfortable in. So I went looking for a dark jacket to go along with the trousers, but I saw this suit in one shop - and thought I’d try it on.

It was a revelation - I looked in the mirror, and there was this smart man-about-town looking back at me. It didn’t look like I had a corset on, even when I sat down with the jacket done up! I brought it, and also got myself a white shirt and a couple of ties. When I dressed for the service I actually felt good about how I looked - and as someone who rarely feels good about how they look, that was amazing:)

Now, I’m not about to start appearing at the Wenns in my suit and asking for a dry martini - I’m still a jeans and tees sort of person at heart - but somehow, I’ve grown into someone who looks and feels good in smart clothes too - isn’t life strange!

Welney

Where I live there are a lot of birds flying along the river, but I’m not at all knowledgeable about what is what - I’m not in any sense an avid bird-watcher. But I do have a good pair of binoculars, a camera, and most of all an interest in wild life, and so I took the opportunity this weekend to rent a car and head out to Welney Wetland Centre, to see what I could see.

Welney is something like 25 miles from me, and I set my SatNav to go the shortest route - this is always interesting as it takes me along all the tiny country roads. I was amused right away as it took me along the route I sometimes cycle out to Wiggenhall St Germans, but I was soon driving way past where I normally stop, and into deeper countryside. Out here there are a lot of roadways called “Droves” - normally long and straight roads next to a ditch, and often about the same width as my car! But it’s a fun route to drive, and you really see the countryside from here - and now I’m deep in the Fens the countryside is mostly reclaimed marshland - so the term “flat” really doesn’t adequately describe it!

Soon I’m driving along Ten Mile Bank (that is what the road is called!!) and see the Wetland Centre building in the distance - this is an interesting looking wooded building, but as I park and get out of the car I’m most struck by the sound of the birds - a real cacophony of different calls and a joy to hear:)

I guess my first question about the wetland centre was why was it here - what is special about this place? Well, as I’ve said before this area was all marshland before it was drained for agriculture, but even so, the area would be still subject to flooding from the river, so some areas were set up to allow for the flood water to go safely - these were called the Ouse Washes, contained by high banks on each side. Over time they became the habitat for a number of bird species, and in particular a home for migrating birds.



The Visitor centre is on one side of the road, and I climb up to the top level, to find a pleasant gift shop and restaurant, and I fortify myself with a cup of coffee before moving on. Then up some more stairs to a walkway that takes me over the road and onto the top to the bank. I do see that this whole thing is disabled accessible - there are lifts and the walkways are well made and level. Walking over the bridge I’m again impresses with the noise of the birds - what I know realise are Whooper Swans. I walk into the main observatory, and this is not like any “hide” I’ve been in before - it is warm and has large glass windows overlooking the main lagoon - and what a site!! I counted over a hundred swans before I gave up counting - and as I watched there were new arrivals flying in - really amazing to see them swoop down, feet first and smoothly sail into the water. The Whooper swans spend the summer in Iceland where they produce their offspring, and then they migrate down to the “warmer” climes of the UK for winter - Welney is one of the main centres in this part of the world for the swans to over winter.

These were not the only birds there by any means, but their size and noise made them the most noticeable as they squabbled and fed. Further away from us were an even larger number of lapwings, and when they took off it was truly amazing how they filled the sky, before wheeling round and landing again. There were also Brent Geese on one of the dry areas, and they would occasionally make themselves heard over the swans.

I stayed in this main observatory for some time with my binoculars, but then decided to take a walk along to the other hides that I’d seen on the map. I set off first to the south, towards the reed beds, intending to see if the “summer walk” was open - unfortunately it was not, so I’ll have to come back to go on that track. As I was walking along, the strap on my binocular case broke - they are very old binoculars, and the strap had just worn out over time, so I had to carry them for the rest of the day rather that having them wound my neck.

Turning around, I walked back past the observatory, and on along the track to the Lyle hide. This was a much quieter area - one solitary swan in the distance, but mostly plover and lapwings, with some more Brent Geese. As I watched there was another bird hovering - by looking at the books I believe it was a marsh harrier - some sort of bird of prey certainly from the way it was flying. There were also many types of duck here - too many types for my limited knowledge to identify.

It was know getting on for 1 o’clock, so I headed back to the visitor centre for lunch - I had one of their specials of the day - vegetable soup - and more coffee. It was not a particularly cold day - in fact I’d gotten quite hot when walking in the sun - but the soup somehow seemed the right thing for this outdoorsy sort of a day.

After lunch I set off to the north end of the walk to the Friends Hide. There are a lot of colourful dragonfly darting around, and as a few butterfly as well - this is a warm and secluded place for them to thrive! As I arrived, someone was coming out of the hide, and I had it to myself for a long time - I sat there and just watched the birds come and go for a while, and actually found myself drifting off in a kind of sleep, when I heard the door behind me and more watchers arrived.

I had read that they have swan feeding starting in October, so I went back to the main observatory to see if they had started yet. All this time I’d been aware that there seemed to be more people walking the paths than I’d seen earlier, and when I got into the observatory it was a lot more crowded than before - a lot of people with a lot of expensive looking photographic equipment. I found out that the swan feeding starts at the end of October, but I stayed watching some more anyway. And I saw what seemed to me an amazing thing, a couple of the swans were standing on one leg - and very un-elegant they looked too!!

In the end I decided it was time to leave, and I reluctantly crossed back over the bridge back to the visitor centre, and back to my car.

Welney is a really nice place and one I intend to return to again.

A bad taste

As regular readers will know, I live by myself. Now, whilst I do have friends that I socialise with, sometimes I just want to go out to a restaurant by myself. And mostly, that hasn’t been a problem.

Until Tuesday.

On Tuesday evening I decided that what I’d like to eat was Chinese food, and sure, I could cook it myself, or I could get a take out - but really, it’d be nice to eat in a restaurant - not just for the food, but also for the general experience of being out and about and being social. Along Railway Road here in Lynn there is a Chinese Buffet restaurant, and I thought that would be idea - I could get what I needed from the buffet, and not have the things that don’t agree with me - it’d be fun:)

So I turned up at the restaurant just after 7pm I guess - I looked through the window as I arrived and saw that they had one group of people in a table by the window, but it looked like the rest of the place was empty - not surprising at this time of day I expect.

I walked in the door and waited, and soon a waitress come up to me and said “can I help you?” - so I asked for a table for one. She then walked me around the place, past a number of empty tables, and then told me that, as I was eating alone, she needed me to pay for my meal and a drink before they would serve me. I actually think I stood stock still with my mouth open for a few moments. Then I asked why, to be told it was “company policy”.

Well frankly, that policy sucks. I have no idea why I, as a single diner, should be singled out for this discriminatory action. Do they think I’m going to be disruptive? Frankly, one person dining alone is LESS likely to be disruption than a group of people. Do they think I’d run off without paying? That must be a danger with any table, why pick on me for this particular treatment?

Or is it just that they actually just don’t want my custom? Is it that they don’t want people eating by themselves in their restaurant? Of course, they are perfectly entitled to put any rules they like about who they will and will not serve. And if that was their intention, then they succeeded in not getting my custom that day - or any day between now and when hell freezes over.

I went home and cooked for myself, but it will take a while for that bad experience to leave me.