Retreat

[wildeabandon]

I did manage to get to St Beuno's eventually, and they'd saved me some dinner. It was, as ever, an extraordinarily grace filled few days, albeit in a very different way from my previous visit. It's quite difficult to talk about the important things that happened there in a way that doesn't sound cliched, and trying to do so is one of the rare times when I feel my lack of artistic or poetic skill more keenly, but if you can just imagine me sitting quietly with a look of pure joy, somehow perfectly calm and crackling with energy at the same time then you probably understand at least as well as anything I'd be able to convey with words.

Easier than trying to find words for the movement of the spirit is sharing some photos of some of my adventures whilst I was there. On Tuesday I took myself off to Prestatyn, a seaside town about 9 miles walk from the retreat house.

You can see Snowdonia off in the distance on the left, and that's Prestatyn with the Irish Sea behind it on the right. The Irish Sea is, shall we say, bracing, at this time of year, but I thoroughly enjoyed my swim nonetheless.


I saw various baby animals whilst out walking:




I also met an extremely vicious guard dog outside one of the farms who very nearly licked me to death, but was too busy enthusiastically demanding petting to stand still and pose for the camera.

I did have a ridiculous plan for the next day of getting up at dawn and setting off walking South along the Offa's Dyke way, seeing how far I could get by dusk, and then getting a taxi back to the house. Unfortunately I've clearly lost a certain amount of fitness over the last year, and my "gentle warm up stroll" of eighteen miles the previous day took a bit more out of me than I expected. My knees were warning me that there was a serious risk that I might climb up a hill and find myself unable to walk down, and it would clearly be irresponsible to impose that risk on mountain rescue, so I stayed within the grounds that day. I had hoped that at least I could reap the benefits of getting up at Oh God o'clock with a glorious sunrise, but the hill behind the house meant that although there were some pretty rose highlights to the clouds, it wasn't nearly as spectacular as I thought I deserved.


Undeterred though, having made the effort to adjust my sleep cycle I tried again the next day, and this time my knee was recovered enough that I could at least try from the top of the hill. Even before the sun began to rise I was rewarded by seeing a badger running across the hilltops. Too quick for me to get a photo, but still pretty exciting, as I don't think I've ever met one in the wild before. There were a few mushrooms around, but fortunately no snakes.

And then this time I did get my sunrise.

Comments

[sfred]

That sounds and looks great.

[mtbc]

It does indeed, apart from the bracingness, heh. (-: The North Sea off Scotland also wasn't something I entered lightly.

[ludy]

That's beautiful - and I'm so glad that you had a meaningful/blessed time

[sfred]

I think the Irish Sea is usually warmer than the North Sea? Anyway, I have happily sploshed about in the North Sea since childhood, so the bracingness doesn't put me off :-)

[bunnypip]

I am very glad that you had a grace filled retreat where important things happened.

And I like your photos.

[hairyears]

Good shot!

Also, the Irish sea is warmer than the North Sea, at this time of year.

Or at least, less bracing.

[wildeabandon]

As others have said, the Irish Sea is quite a bit warmer than the North Sea, what with being further south and all :) Once I'd been in the water for a couple of minutes and was moving around it wasn't unpleasant.

[wildeabandon]

Thank you :) I think I'm going to have to get my next retreat booked soon, as I'm already missing it.

[wildeabandon]

Thank you. It would be good to blether about it some more with you whilst we're in Norfolk :)

[bunnypip]

Absolutely - let's do that x