A mere 7 miles, give or take

From our house, lies serenity.

Down county, country roads

Getting thinner, getting there

Is the beach 

Silence only broken by the sound of the water

As it seemingly,indecisively,

Goes in and out. 

Never sure which action to take. 

Wild campers, with their vans and tents, 

leave no mess. 

Just remnants of fires created. 

With stones, borrowed from the shore,

Forming a rough circle to hold the embers within. 

Litter gathered up and placed in the bins. 

Stones that diminish in size,

The closer they are to the water’s edge

From large to almost sand. 

All colours and shapes 

And cool to touch.

The gentle, lapping water pays no heed to them

The wash is the same, 

 Calm and soothing

Even in the place where ancient stone forms almost an underwater road

Smoothed out by millennia of cold, north facing waters. 

Where orcas pass. 

Frolicking out at sea. 

Not visible today, 

From this spot. 

I walk a short distance after eating food from a van

In the village up the hill

The food, unfinished, was not good 

But my mood stayed calm as seabirds bobbed about a little way offshore 

Others gathered on outcrops

As if daring the tide to disperse them. 

Not today though. 

The Firth was enjoying the sunshine 

Peacefully lapping in the bay. 

“I could stay here,” I thought 

And I am sure the drift had the same idea. 

Ebb and eddy: eddy and ebb

Being kind enough to not wet my shoes. 

Perhaps sensing my mood. 

The time had come when I had to leave 

And although the evening sunshine still made everything glow

I had to go. 

Return to where I had parked. 

Leaving the littoral behind

Where limpet shells are outnumbered by dries seaweed snakes 

I alighted the soft, oceanfront, grass bank

With tufts of wildflowers , 

and over the man made bridge 

Under which a casual stream flowed on its journey away from land

Passed the honesty box that requested ,’£10 for caravans; to help with the upkeep of the area.’

Got into my car,

And headed home.