Exploring Islands and Castles – and Ourselves
This time, the Ryanair flight from Brno to Stansted was on time. This time, I arrived at the scheduled time and skipped through immigration without issues. I found my hotel and had an early night after all, it would be a long drive the next morning. After a British breakfast (a treat!), I went for my rental car – now this was a slight issue and I will only say this – do NOT rent from Easirent (difficult and expensive rent is more apt I think). Finally, I left the Stansted area around 10 am – an hour behind schedule but no matter – I was in good spirits.
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Now, the drive from Stansted to Seahouses looked doable. Google maps told me 5 hours and if I factored in a couple of breaks, I should arrive on time around 4pm. I forgot about British traffic and more importantly – roadworks – but, I duly arrived at the meeting place just 30 minutes late. Before I even got the hotel door, Sue and Stu emerged to greet me – they had been watching out for me.
This was the third time I had met Sue – a very good friend of the last umpteen years. She and I have been through a few things and used email, telephone and thought messages to help each other. She had even put up with a call during which I managed somehow to consume quite a lot of gin to the point that when I awoke the next morning I did feel quite worse for wear and somewhat embarrassed…. Stu I had met one time before and we had got on like a house on fire. As importantly, it was Sue’s birthday! One important reason why I had made the trip frankly.
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After a cup of tea – I skipped the scone and immediately regretted that – we headed for the beach where the leader gave us some thoughts while pointing out the magnificent Bamburgh Castle. There was some discussion of how on a previous Silent Eye weekend, it had rained and everyone got wet. Sure enough, it rained and we all got wet – I suspected this was a part of the induction process after all. As I told Sue, I didn’t mind except that was my only pair of Jeans ….. Sue plainly couldn’t care less as walking back, she waded through the thrashing post-squall waves while we all admired the light and took photographs. The Sun after the squall. It seemed an apt start somehow.
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A bit later, the party re-assembled in a fish and chip shop, still wet but in good spirits and I polished off a rather large haddock, mushy peas and chips. Surely, I had died and gone to heaven? Especially, since Steve suggested we wash this down with a pint at the nearby pub.
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The content of the weekend has been well covered by the other participants so I won’t cover the same ground. What I will say is that I had a great time. The location was marvelous. The weather perfect. The company magical. It was a weekend spent meditating on myself as a castle – thinking about the walls I have built over my life and I guess my thought was just how intimidating a castle can seem to one who has never had the pleasure of sitting before its warm hearth (heart?).
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Some special, moments for me would include the visit to Lindisfarne (a first), having birds feed from our hands there as well as the windy, song-ridden (seals apparently) farewells, discovering that I and another party member were born on the same date, but a different year (now isn’t that a strange coincidence?), Meeting Steve and the others for the first time proper, spending time talking mysteries, myths and stone circles with Sue and Stuart – as well as sinking a glass or two, and realizing that I’m not so strange – there are at least 5 other people like me.
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