The Search For Enlightenment

The traffic this morning was terrible, long queues for no apparent reason, right round the LV roundabout, and chanting wasn’t helping at all. Then we came across the cause, a lady had broken down on one of the few single carriageway sections. She was standing next to her stricken Focus, trying not to catch the eye of the furious motorists as they drove past. My heart went out to her. Being on her own, what was she supposed to do, and after all, nobody died or got eaten by bears. A little more compassion please folks.

With Bumble away, and the mobile signal being a bit flaky over there, we didn’t have our usual morning chat on the way to work. It’s a bit sad I know, but I do miss her when we don’t get to talk. So I was delighted when she called. She was walking down to the ferry and going off to Bryher for the day. Although they weren’t enjoying the glorious sunshine we had in Ringwood, it was warm and the air was soft. As we spoke, she kept stopping to take photos of wild flowers and views across the beach, and I was worried that she might pull off a repeat of the missed ferry on Monday.

Her call at lunchtime alleviated all those fears, she was on the island and enjoying the scenery in perfect isolation. Not another person in sight. So when we spoke just before 6:00 I was expecting more superlatives as she described the adventures of the day. Sadly that was not to be. Just after we spoke, she had put her foot into an unseen rabbit hole and has badly sprained her ankle.

Fortunately, the folks of the Scilly Isles have far more compassion than those in the traffic jam earlier today. It seems that she has been helped in every conceivable way, mainly by complete strangers, and is back with Josie and hobbling around with the aid or a pair of walking sticks. The crutches are coming over on the morning ferry, so that might give her a little more mobility.

Being a bloke, I instantly needed to fix things as soon as I heard about the accident. Of course that isn’t possible, or even needed, but it didn’t stop me feeling helpless. When we spoke on Skype tonight she sensed my mood. It’s no fun for me, being in such a position, but it won’t help Bumble, me being down, so I have chanted and got myself into a better place. The morning will bring a fresh medical report, I just hope that her injury doesn’t spoil her already curtailed holiday too much.