Rain and Hail...

From the top of Leith Hill, not far from us, you can see the South Down Hills, about 30 miles away and, just beyond those is the English Channel. It's a reminder just how small England is.


This week we've been battered with hail and the heaviest April rain ever recorded in some parts. Islands attract all sorts of weather, but this has been exceptional. And, officially, the South of England is still in drought!


Our clutter clearing was hampered by yesterday's IT madness, but thankfully the problem has miraculously been solved and we're back up to speed. But I look at the drawers of documents that need either sorting or shredding with a certain Herculean dread... just what we need to keep and what to discard is likely to take several days to accomplish.


Our house sale is to be completed in five weeks time. Our removals company is booked and will take three days to pack everything into boxes; I may have found a buyer for the car and, we've given notice to Sky, the TV rental company and to our utility providers and yet there's so much more to do!


Nicholas

Today I am still walking the labyrinth...at least in my memory...


This one was on on Iona, just above Columba's Bay on the south shore of the island and I walked it just last week. As I was slowly moving along its circular pathway, I was deeply conscious that at the moment I first came near to the middle of the circle, the arc of the stone path guided me away, and not only a little distance away, but to the very outside ring of the labyrinth, as far from the resting point in its core as I could physically be.


That...is how I feel today. As far from having completion as can be. The house, the packing, the pensions, the disposing or selling of all we are not storing or moving, the goodbyes, the endings, the new beginnings...for a brief moment it all felt calm and close and within reach. But now, In this moment, for all sorts of reasons (most of which are out of my control), I am emotionally walking the circumference of this circle called my life in transition and I don't like it. I want to be in the centre, I want to be able to rest.


I am thankful for the lesson of this ancient symbol, in having experienced it, I know the path will ultimately arrive me where I long to be and that, while it might not be my first choice, walking at a distance may just give me perspective on the journey and a deeper appreciation for the process. 


Judy