Monochrome Pewter and Pearl

8th January 2012 Sunday

I end this first week of a new year lying on sloping Sidmouth beach all wrapped up in coat and scarf, a bumpy mattress of pebbles under my back and shards of silver sun on my face. The sea, the waves, the sky, the clouds, the sand, the stones are all monochrome pewter and pearl lit up by a flash bulb sun streaming a wide path across the water. And just for a minute or two I’m spellbound - I forget I’m me and only hear the gulls and the scrunch of boots on pebbles, a dog barking, the smell of wet seaweed by my ear and the whole empty sky above me going on forever. And I realise this is a rare moment for me - not talking or walking or listening or worrying - just being monochrome quiet and feeling the earth below me and cold then warm air on my face. I feel like a rescued whale, basking, knowing the sea is full of krill..

Then my husband says he needs to pee so we skid and slide across the pebbles to Jacob’s Ladder and go in search of fish and chips for lunch.