While I was out for a stroll in my lunch hour today, enjoying the beautiful spring sunshine, my mind was rapidly straying away from all thoughts of work towards this week’s blog post. A few potential topics drifted by but nothing was inspiring me. I stopped to watch the seabirds sitting out on the rocks at the mouth of the James Watt Dock but no inspirational thoughts came. (I did mutter under my breath yet again about how disobliging the cormorants were being – I am desperate to get a decent photograph of one of them drying its wings but, after more than a year of waiting and watching, I’m still waiting and watching for that shot!) A border of colourful spring flowers gave me a lovely photo for my Facebook wall but no blog thoughts. My ears were filled with music from my iPod but no flashes of inspiration from the tunes I was enjoying…. at least not thoughts I’m sharing on here!
Several hours later I drove home into the setting sun- a stunning sight as the sun set beyond the Argyll hills lighting up the sky with hues of red and orange. My mind was still thinking blog….. and then I remembered a poem I had written a while back.
The inspiration for it was a rock. A big long low red sandstone rock on the beach at Kilchattan Bay on the Isle of Bute. A rock I had played on for hours as a little girl during summer holidays and long autumn weekend visits. A rock that my imagination transformed into the setting for many make believe games. Something simple yet inspiring.
Perhaps today I was over thinking this post. Perhaps I was looking at the world with my eyes and ears shut, despite enjoying the sights and sounds around me. It’s made me think…..
Day In The Life Of A Rock
Soft rays of morning sun
Not quite reaching the shore
The rock sits in silence
Waiting for someone to come and explore.
Stomping and mumbling
A boy stamps along
Shells crushing under his angry feet.
The rock looms large
And his bleak mood shifts.
A submarine! All his!
The rock is transformed by his play til midday.
Hot afternoon sun beats down on the rock
Along comes a girl
In her pretty summer frock.
“My fairy castle!” she cries.
With a skip and a dance
She enters the fairy world
Totally entranced.
The rock is transformed by her play
Til her mother’s call breaks the spell.
The sun sets with a warm rosy glow.
I sit on the rock
Feeling it’s warmth rising inside me.
My space. My sanctuary.
My time to play
As the sun sinks down on another magical day
Coral McCallum 