Categories: mother-nature
Date: 04 February 2007 23:17:21
No, I've not been away anywhere exotic, just enjoying the stonking weather here in this corner of Wales this weekend. It might only be February (and the temperature early in the morning tells you that much) but the sun has been shining down on us, and lifted many spirits in doing so.
On Friday evening I heard the weather man say something like "very cold and clear this weekend, perfect for a day in the hills". I sat an cursed my bad luck at not having the means to get to said hills, and then decided that, dammit, I was going to go out and enjoy this lovely weather anyway. So I looked up the bus times, and Saturday morning got myself on a bus out to
Parkmill on South Gower. See the other thing planned for this weekend, which also made it fab, was an ex-Swansea friend visiting for the day on Saturday, which gave us an excuse to go to verdis for lunch. So I decided my walk would only be a short one, and I'd meet them there. So having got to my starting point by 9.40am, I had plenty of time for a nice walk along the south Gower coast in the sunshine, planning (and managing) to get to mumbles by 1pm.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, cold and clear as the weather man said! After a short bus ride across the frosty Gower commons, I arrived in Parkmill and wandered down to the back of Pennard pill and up the sand dunes to Pennard Castle, bathed in early morning low winter sun. The sand was still frosty in places where the sun hadn't reached, and I could see my breath forming clouds as I walked. As I headed east the sun strengthened, and was quite warm, and by the time I reached Caswell bay by about 12ish, it was fairly mild, for February, and there were families walking along the beach, children playing and building sandcastles, but only a handful of crazy surfers brave enough to test the water! The sea was bluer (is that a word?!) than I've ever seen it, reflecting the clear cloudless sky, and the tide was far out revealing what seemed like an endless stretch of sand. I could go on, but I'd never be able to put it into words. I have a photo or two which I'll try and share here at some point.
Combining this with then meeting aforementioned friends, having a good old natter to catch up on the last few months, and then continuing to do so at home over dinner and a cup of tea or two, a lovely and thought-provoking church service this morning, and a nice wander along Swansea bay in the late afternoon sun, and I'm feeling more than a little bit cheerfull this evening :)
For various reasons my future in this part of the world is a little uncertain at present. Having been (properly) job hunting for the best part of a year with little success, I'm forced to re-assess my options, and consider some (sich as moving away) which I didn't really want to have to. A day like yesterday just makes me realise again how much I have come to love this place. How much it means to me, and how much I would miss it if I should have to leave. There are other coastal towns I'm sure, and other stretches of coastline as impressive, if not more so. But this place is special, to me at least. And its on my doorstep! When people ask 'but whats so great about Swansea?' sometimes I think thats all I'd need to show them.