5.30am, couldn't sleep...8 months pregnant...I opened the doors of the hotel room and breathed in the sheer beauty of a Dartmouth morning...early morning sunshine peeping through the few clouds in an already azure sky...reflecting on the bluegreen waters of The River Dart, upon which sailed two scarlet fishing boats, on their way out to sea....I waved to the fishermen on board and they all waved back...I watched them disappear around the bend of the river, where it meets the ocean....
A month later, looking down into my newborn daughter's face for the very first time....
Nearly eight years after that, doing the same with her brother, but this time I almost refused to let myself look at the view in front of me, for fear he'd be taken from me too, as had the two little souls before...but he cried, strong and loud...and it was the best view EVER. And just now, peeping into his room, watching him, 17 years later, sitting by his computer, his favourite cat on his lap, quietly tip-tapping away, oblivious to me peeping. :0)
Doing a paper-round with my son, when he was around 12. A cold winter's morning, but as we pulled around the corner to our first delivery address we were hit by a rose-pink sky to the right of us..We delivered the first paper, then cycled to the seafront as fast as we could...and when we got there, our mouths literally fell open! I think God had his paintbox out that day, or maybe he had summoned Leonardo de Vinci to paint Him a Sunrise So Spectacular that morning.....Oh, the COLOURS!! Rose Pink floating down from Golden Clouds that reflected downwards into the sea, turning the gentle waves into blush pink, then the rosegold-light flew back up to the clouds again, lighting them from beneath...No theatre director could have achieved that sensational view! It will stay with Josh and I until we die..and we both knew it was a real privilege to see it...
Around 5/6 years back, walking back to our hotel in York, the children and I. It was dark, around midnight, and we were the only ones there, walking alongside the river. There was a full moon...Two swans appeared..one fast asleep, her head tucked into her wings. Her mate was swimming just in front of her, watching her all the time, looking back, checking her....We stood silent, watching them...There was a weir approaching, but she didn't wake, she had no need to, for her mate just kept swimming her backwards, gently pushing her with his beak. He did this continually....and we stayed with them for about 30 minutes..I guess he continued until she awoke..when I'm sure he'd have kissed her with a smile..
The most *unbelievable* display of Trust & Love I have ever witnessed......
And finally, just a few years back now, 2008, a view that made me smile with warmth, and tears too, as I held Bruce Murdoch's CD 'Matters of the Heart' in my hands for the first time...which I'm listening to right now, as I write this...
And from Bruce's wonderful songs I have hundreds of the most BEAUTIFUL Views running through my head....