A Celtic Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,
may the wind be always at your back,
may the sun shine warm upon your face,
may the rains fall soft upon your fields.
Until we meet again,
may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

Thursday 20 September 2007

The wanderer returns

Yes here I am again. Have I really been gone a week? I guess I must have been having fun, since they say that is what makes time fly.

It was a a rough time for me. Dad is not good, and obviously that affected me. Mum is so worn out from looking after him. I really do take my hat off to her. My sister and brothers do what they can, but she has to put up with it every day. He will come and talk at you, almost as if he just wants the company. Time is an obsession with him, making sure his watch is just so and checking that everyone else has a watch telling them the same time as his. We were watching a rugby match together on TV, and I had to continually remind him who was playing. It is heartbreaking.

And yet, when things connected, it was quite like old times. We managed some lovely walks, including one I had not done before. Walking through a long established wood made me realise how little woodland we have like that here. The island was largely deforested and most of the woodland is fairly new, and lacks that 'timeless' quality that an old woodland has. And since a lot of our deciduous woodland is in the glens, there is always the noise of water; a beautiful sound but it takes away that special sort of silence in a wood, when the old leaves absorb the sound and the birds and the faint rustling of the branches are the only sounds you can hear.

2 comments:

jAMiE said...

I am glad you are back..welcome home.

Glad you enjoyed your time with your family. I am sure your mother has a very tough job looking after your father but i bet she wouldn't want it any other way.

You are a good son!

Canadian flake said...

Glad you had a nice visit with your family. So sorry to hear your father isn't well.

I will keep him in my prayers.