Each evening in the town of St Ives, a crowd of tourists quietly steps down to the sea, to watch the sunset.
I have the privilege of watching this happen for four weeks, because I stay longer than people who have only one week to spare. Some weeks the sunset watchers are teenagers who like to sit on the soft green grass to laugh and chat under the gentle supervision of their parents.
Other weeks, the watchers might be older and tireder, and prefer to rest on a bench while gazing. This group of people have dogs, leaping and nipping and hoping someone will throw them a treat. Or a ball. None of them are on leads, so they are happy during the spectacular sinking of that great Orb.
It must be fun to be a teenager on holiday in St Ives, what with all the eating, swimming, surfing, paddle boarding, kicking of balls and the endless visiting of everybody's mothers. I know this because when I was a teenager, we spent a week at the beach every summer, only the beach town we had holidays in was called Cannon Beach. It was in Oregon and it had a spectacular sunset just like St Ives.
Our lovely holidays in Cannon Beach took place at a Christian camp that encouraged families to come and "Vacation with a purpose". Because my parents valued this purposeful vacationing, I grew to value it and carried on the tradition with my own children. They adored it all, especially the freedoms they were afforded because they could be trusted.
I am sitting next to an open window, accidentally overhearing many a tourist conversation. People are herding children, washing off sandy feet, and thinking hungrily of their dinners. The mothers no doubt rejoice that it is "still only Saturday", and they have most of the week to enjoy! It's as if they are dragging their feet to slow the Circles down..
See you along the way!
the SconeLady
"We can't return, we can only look behind from where we came,
and go round and round and round in the Circle game". Joni Mitchell
Oh those memories of Canon Beach - epic! 💗
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