"A memory of being 10"

Adelina in the Adriatic. Her birthday today: 10/10/1986

I came across a note-to-self written by Adelina on a trip the two of us made to Dublin in 1997. In it, she confronts loss, lamenting the death of her paternal grandfather, the passing of her own infancy and childhood, and then, addressing her future self, urges herself to include her current self in her affections,  just as she is now including her family and friends in her all-embracing love! 

In a very small tear-stained hand: "Here are some tears because of Ankong, Mum + Dad + Dublin"

Notice that, true to tradition, we went swimming, which allowed Adelina to claim that she had been to Ireland twice, the first time when she disembarked on the tarmac, the second time when she landed on the shore. Who am I to quibble with her semantic pedantry!

Photos taken from inside an Art Museum when we realised that Adelina could impersonate a painting on the wall!

And here, finally is a poem to celebrate her birthday and her funny little note. It offers a recipe for how to write a 14-line poem without ever bothering to pen more than a couple of lines yourself ;)

Love, Adelina

Dear Adelina, you write

to yourself, if you still have this

when you grow up, don’t forget …

and you list all your loved ones, first

and foremost NEVER forget your brother.

Lamenting the death of one grandparent

and the dying of another, you add:

I miss being a baby and a little girl,

and then, a love-surge sweeping time away

– for what is time to love

or self to rippling selves – 

I hope you won’t hate your childhood and me,

before signing off: Here is a memory

of being 10 in Dublin. Love, Adelina Lin.

I had hoped to load the 'rippling selves' with lots of meaning, but got rather hijacked by raspberry ice-cream. No doubt Lina would have approved ;)

Lens-waves

Trying hard to create a magic island out of Queenford, but there's no recreating Tromsø!

Hard to remember that these waves fit into the 1cm
of my camera lens!

24 Little Hours

The bag-lady travels in her pyjamas!

The sun never stops shining in Tromnsø, nor we 3 goons smiling :)

Sindre-sized bed

Bespoke-style bed-head!

The smiles were prompted by my 'goodbye', the arms by 'see you again soon'.
Is this a case of 'skrekkblanda fryd'?!

And yes, Sindre and I did find the time for a marathon swim session with Gillian and Vidar
(no cameras allowed, obviously :)

Submerged Empires

Queenford Lake on a sunny Sunday morning, reminding me of Magritte's 'Empire of Lights'

I did a couple of laps in pensive mood this morning, waiting for that moment when one's centre shifts from the world above-board, with its clamour of breath, sight and sound, to the otherness of submersion. What is it about breath suspended and the senses stayed that releases energy? Maybe just the trance of getting into one's glide. Maybe also the recognition that with the chaos and cacophony of yet another start of term, silence and focus are set to sink along with other lost Empires.

Porcelain cats and cold water

The Nordlys, shivering in Tromsø harbour-waters

I've signed up to the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) for info on events (and tips on leg cramps?), and could only find chill-swims on the menu, all of them several hours' drive from Oxford with a maximum distance of c50 metres - less than a minute in the water - unless you have certified cold-water experience. Am eyeing those Tromsø waters with intent...

Meanwhile, I finally forced my son to look at the photos on my last posting - his response to my invitation to read my blog when I first started having been a cooly ambiguous: "I assure you, I shall waste no time in doing so!"

This time his response was: "You remind me of one of those old ladies who collect porcelain cats, an utterly useless and eccentric activity." And there I was thinking I had found a cheap an cheerful way of staying afloat!

Illuminance

I wouldn't buy this if it were a painting, so why do I love it as an unedited photo: life imitates kitsch?!

'No more than, but more than just ...'

Queenford lake half-marathon (awaiting event pics!), at 8.30 am.

One of my favourite philosophers, Julian Baggini, when writing about that old chestnut the ego and identity, said that "we are no more than, but more than just, matter." Well today, I was no more than last in my category of the Henley half-marathon - sorry to disappoint you. But then again, I was more than just last, since there were only 3 women in the 'Traditional' category (swimmers in speedos rather than wetsuits), and given that the other two were young and had clearly trained in a pool rather than a cake-shop (with its occasional icing from the Arctic), my bronze medal commemorates a modest achievement after all!

Mounted police, or the water equivalent

Where have all the swimmers gone?!

Catharine Benson, turned a swim into an event!

I swam the 5km in just under 2 hours, which was not so bad since I wasn't racing. Quite the contrary, once the first circuit of the lake had been endured, I was delighted to find myself on my own, enjoying the clear water between my plod and the pack's splash. I was convinced I must be last of all, and only discovered this was not the case once I had completed the swim. I imagine those behind were similarly revelling in their patch of clear water.

Perhaps the only thing that dented my pleasure was repeated leg-cramps on one particular part of the circuit (where my left leg acted as wind-break to an ever increasing breeze). I felt like a lumberjack steering an unwieldy trunk downstream and had no idea what to do other than swim on.

The best part of the event, by far, was that a friend came to cheer me on and was there to welcome me out of the water. Catharine Benson is, wait for it, an Atlantic College alumnus, though we just missed each other as she started 2 months after I had left in 1978. She is a brilliant doctor (I know, because she is my GP!), and a great sportswoman who open-swims, cycles and used to run (till the Great North Run did for her). I was instructed, on doctor's orders, to warm up by the fire till I toned down my various shades of blue!