Time to Be

Everyone was stripped to the waist a few days ago due to the unusually warm weather – and that was just the women. I threw a few things in a bag and hastened to the beach on my bike. In Ireland, just because the sun is shining at 2 pm doesn’t mean that there won’t be torrential rain by 4 pm. So you have to make the most of it. It’s a good lesson in seizing the moment. I went on a hunt for seashells and it was like going to the library – I looked up and a very pleasant hour had passed. I have an agreement with the beach: if I take five shells, then I must pick up five bits of litter from the earth. Seems fair. I felt the warm sand underneath my bare feet as I walked to the water’s edge. I felt the warm breeze on my skin and the sun on my body which is usually swathed in layers for the Irish weather. The water was warm enough to paddle in and I kicked up some spray and giggled. I got peckish and decided to tuck into the homemade vegan ice cream I had brought with me. Very tasty, was my first thought. Definitely not ice cream, was my second. In my haste I had grabbed a frozen tub of homemade hummous. At this stage the gentle breeze was still warm but had morphed into a force five gale and Laurence of Arabia would have been hard pressed to stay on the beach. My windward ear was filled with sand and a general sandblasting was doing great exfoliation on my skin. I meandered home and I must have been more revitalized than I thought because I had the energy to work in the garden for a couple of hours. I just love the way time stretches and expands when we are having fun like children. Let’s do it more often. 🙂