Sailing into 2013 - part 2 -words

I spent ten days - from my birthday till last Sunday without going on-line (except once to check the traffic news and weather before travelling over to West Wales).  I wanted to sit up and rest in what Laurie Anderson termed the information super lay-by.  I also just wanted to enjoy the company of friends and the expereince of being a tourist (and in part a tour guide) in my own culture. On the way home I scribbled the following lines on the ferry:

New Year seen in with talking, drinking, eating and visiting friends in England and Wales.

Touching base
And travelling for nine days with my best buddy (without once arguing)
Showing him the sights of London, the suburbs and West Wales beyond.
Seeing the clouds and mist there rise and fall; opening up and closing down vistas of these ancient hills
Goginan, Clarach, Aber, Borth, Cwm Einion
Ancient landscapes, also part of my history (this is where I….)
But most, importantly friends, the closest I have to family.

But first a paternal visit. My father, usually withdrawn staring into his lap

Sometimes trying to communicate, incoherently, but at least with a smile.
Passing his last days in a nursing home.
I feel I should do more, but what more is there to do?

New Year; tasting potcheen for the first time

Gathering pebbles from the beach
And snapshots of the places en route
And swapping texts with an occasional (but unavailable on this trip) lover

And pouring over OS maps, remembering past adventures

Driving roads on ancient tracks that crawl along the sides of forgotten valleys
Where water flows fast and furious from mountain to the sea
Or climb high above the tree line to the moors above, covered in cloud.

Talking about movies, books, songs, gigs seen in 2012

Rediscovering my copy of Kerouac’s Dharma Bums on a friend’s bookshelf
(Loaned to I forgot whom more than ten years ago - but always missed)
And my friends’ kids, bright and sparky, some already in Uni, some with jobs, one pregnant  

And kites in the sky
English (Welsh?) breakfasts
And waves crashing on the shore

And finally travelling home on the ‘comfy ferry’

With all these images in my head
Back to my adopted home city
Catching my breath for whatever 2013 has in store

Only sublimely inspired by Van Morrison's 'Hyndford Street'