In Good Company: Huggy - And I Enjoyed The Long Grass
...Husband and I were even scorched enough to wet our toes in the briney. But one dip was enough to anaesthetise a whole leg in a matter of seconds, and we only just managed to limp back to our deck chairs on white bloodless feet...
Endi Blackburn tells of a chilly encounter with the sea.
Yes, thanks, we had a most enjoyable Sunday to Sunday at Ventnor on the pretty blossom-covered Isle of Wight.
Before the sun curled the skin on my arms and nose like new potatoes – I wallowed in it all day. Husband and I were even scorched enough to wet our toes in the briney. But one dip was enough to anaesthetise a whole leg in a matter of seconds, and we only just managed to limp back to our deck chairs on white bloodless feet.
Being a Cancerian I am supposed to be happiest near water - this is true. I loved the sound of the waves cleaning up the shore as I lie in bed, and am fascinated watching it trickle ever nearer my deck chair as the tide comes in. But ask me to sail on it and I am petrified, which does rather detract from the pleasure of visiting islands.
A Bridlington sea captain once told me that poor sailors should always stay on deck. As I sat alone on the deck of his ship listening to him describe the sickly coastline through a loudspeaker, it did pass through my mind that perhaps the captain was just a lonely man.
But I was not seasick. Drenched, miserable and sorry I’d ever said ‘Hello Sailor,’ maybe. But my stomach remained intact.
A ferry from Southampton to Cowes took one hour – or 3,600 seconds – whichever way you look at it. And I looked at it with both hands clinging to the nearest lifeboat. With a gale-force wind trying to blow my ears inside out I wrestled with thoughts of the Titanic and the old question when shipwrecked –whom do you save first, your husband or your children? There is only one answer to that, I panic then drown.
The return ferry seemed easier. Whether this was due to a blissfully calm sea or just before we boarded I fell down a hole and ripped my knee I don’t know. An old schoolmate once told me that whenever she had toothache she used to grip the other cheek so hard the toothache didn’t seem so bad.
I can now inform her that if you fall just before you board a car ferry and blood is oozing from your knee, and you think you may never bowl again, you are home and dry before you know it.
One unspoiled area of the island that will always evoke happy memories is the petite village of Godshill. The main street is lined with exquisitely maintained, plump little white cottages with thatched roofs, and abounds with tea-gardens and an exclusive tavern where one can eat snails.
We tiptoed around the dignified old church that stands on a hill overlooking the village. The atmosphere was so ethereal and timeless that it deemed somewhat incongruous when the minister leaned over my shoulder as I browsed through the visitors’ book and whispered, ‘I have to catch a bus in two minutes.’
I love pondering over past visitors’ remarks. Adjectives like ‘lovely’ and ‘peaceful’ seemed to be most popular. Then I came across an intriguing sentence written by a couple from New York. ‘Huggy and I enjoyed the long grass best.’ I had a giggle at the thought of Huggy living up to his name in the graveyard, until my sober-minded spouse explained they would probably appreciate meandering through any sort of grass after the dust of New York.
Holidays take on a slightly different slant when half the family remain at home. I spent the week before composing memos to the effect of: Feed hamster and dog, water plants, turn iron off, check lights, lock doors, etc.
The first thing I saw as I came home and passed my kitchen window looked like a pile of decaying spaghetti dangling from my window basket.
The prostrate forms of dog and hamster were only sleeping, I was relieved to discover on investigation, and not extinct as I first suspected.
‘I did all the washing,’ greeted one daughter, proudly indicating the four mountains of washing curled up waiting to be ironed.
