A moment of stillness

It is a strange kind of memory, one that, before my Dear old Dad died we spoke about and made it clear in our minds, a memory that still gives me chills.

On a mild evening, in the midst of the Fens, like a small boat in the ocean, we sat in my Uncles garden surrounded by waving golden wheat. The unmistakeable sound of lambs and cattle in the air, drifting along on the stiff breeze. All around there was noise and movement. Then it stopped!

It took a while for the change to sink in...but when lambs are crying and bleating you don't miss that sound for long. Silence and stillness. I was only young but the earyness of this most ghostly air was not lost on me. No wind, the wheat standing tall and as motionless as palace guards, the breath from our lips hung immobile daring not to make a sound. We looked at each other, bewitched by the magic of it all. In the cattle sheds the animals statue like staring into the distance, transfixed. Horses tails hung as if a waterfall caught in a single moment, not even the flies felt able to complete their manic buzzing. A spell had definitely been cast, the world held still....waiting . For what seemed like an eternity we all watched the world halted, held in some frozen state.

The enchantment faded with soft breezes and tiny swaying of the wheat. We all breathed again, all moved again , released.

While I stood this morning on a rain drenched common, a brief moment of this mystical event came back to me. The delicate breeze stilled and for such a heartbeat or two, life missed a beat. It is tempting, when you have an imagination like mine, to believe that somewhere the universe is waiting for the roll of the dice, what path will it take? What direction and for what purpose has it been waiting for?

I stood amongst the glistening grasses, motionless and undecided, waiting for the wind to return and give them a purpose again.....smiling to myself.....a little trip along memory lane giving me back my Father for a short while.....maybe that was what the universe wanted....a little time for me and my Lovely Dad.