Sunscreen

We started a little later today, but were eventually up and away to Seahouses.

Unfortunately, the rest of the western English-speaking (well, Geordie) world had the same idea, so we had the craziest game of crazy golf and got out of there.

We did purchase some chips from Neptunes before leaving however and inserted a bunch of them into our sandwiches at lunchtime at our favourite venue - on the sofa in the back of Big Blue.

Whilst blowy, the weather did seem to be improving, so we headed back to the beach further up the coast for a few hours. It was lovely to sit, wander, play and just be for a little while. Being on the beach and so close to water always seems to provide me with a little inner peace and a brief respite from the all-pervading sense of doom that comes with anxiety.

I still worry of course. I worry about The Youngest skipping over slippery rocks to get to the least accessible and therefore most fun part of the beach (see extra). I worry about sunburn and sand getting into places that will cause discomfort. But these are small every day worries that most parents would probably have at some point and can be easily reconciled in the knowledge that The Youngest heals up quickly. The risk of sunburn can be alleviated with a judicious application of sunscreen (trust me) and sand gets everywhere, it’s going to happen. Live with it.

As m’boy takes some time to just lie in the sun and The Youngest gets dragged out to sea and lost in a hundred adventures of her own brilliant imagination, it does give me time to think and reflect on my own life - usual stuff for me (single once more, coming up fast on 50, at a crossroads in my “career” etc.) - but when I catch myself doing that, the crashing of the waves, the wind on my face and the feel of the sand between my toes brings me back to the present moment and reminds me that no matter what is (or isn’t) going on in my life, it is this moment right here now that is the most precious and before worrying about the next one to follow or any that have preceded it, this moment is to be savoured and enjoyed.