Reflections of a different kind

Well, yes it was a day for reflections, light and still, and I have no doubt that lots of beautiful reflection blips will appear.

However, the most important part of my day was, not when I was sitting by the lake contemplating reflections, but when I was inside reflecting on lots and lots of words.

It’s Words by the Water again in Keswick and what a great day we had there today. Unusually, we both chose to go to the same talks – we even sat together!!

We started with Patrick Barkham and a superb talk about his exploration of small islands. Well illustrated, informative and entertaining – everything such a talk should be. And it went much further than just a journey through some of our smallest islands – it was a thoughtful reflection on what it means to be an islander and why we like islands. A book was bought and signed.

Later it was Graham Robb talking about the Debatable Land, an area just north of us that spans the Scottish/English border. He has done so much research into the history of this area; it was fascinating to listen to him. Gordon already had the book, has read it and rates it highly, so it was interesting to meet the author. And he signed his book.

Finally we went to a talk about winds. Well, yes, I thought the same – a talk about winds! But it was at the end of the day, there wasn’t much else I fancied going to and so I went along as well. Also, I was told (again Gordon already had the book) that two of the winds were ones I knew about, very well indeed – the Helm Wind, the only named wind in the whole country and which blows right in our village. And the Mistral, which we have come across many times whilst in Southern France. It was a fascinating talk by Nick Hunt, a guy who has tracked down some of these named winds and found out all the stories about them. Another book signed.

But we were not inside all the time on this lovely day. We had long breaks between talks and managed a picnic lunch by the lake in Borrowdale. Later in the day Gordon walked up Latrigg and I walked by the Lake.

And we are doing the same thing all over again tomorrow.