The Search For Enlightenment

So the holiday is nearly over, the boat was returned to the marina first thing this morning, everything transferred to the cars and the account settled. It’s always rather sad when you have to say goodbye to those you have shared time with, but we had planned to take a detour to my Mom’s on the way home, so still plenty to look forward to.

The satnav decided to take us on the scenic route to Sutton Coldfield, rather than opting for the motorway, but even driving on the A roads felt like we were flying, compared to the sedate 4mph of the last week.

The weather was kind, the day had started bright and sunny, and the rain managed to hold off until after we were on the road. There were a few heavy spits and spots as we made our way around Wolverhampton, through Cannock and then on via Shenstone to the town of of my birth, Sutton Coldfield.

Bumble had been to Sutton before. On Mother’s day we brought her Mum Jill to meet my Mom Margaret, but this time we approached the town from a different direction, so there were other landmarks to show her.

Surprisingly, considering it is over five decades ago, the maternity home, Oakhurst, where I took my first breath, is still standing. Nowadays it is a rather swanky set of luxury apartments, but the exterior hasn’t changed from that I’ve seen in the photos all my life.

Amazingly, today, Bumble and I have been going out for six months. In some ways it seems as though we have known each other for longer, in others the time has just flown by. But we are, naturally, still learning about each other, so showing her a little more of my history and background was a lot of fun.

Naturally, my Mom made us feel very welcome when we arrived. She had cooked a nice lunch, and even though I’ve eaten at some top restaurants over the years, Mom’s cooking always tastes the best. I’m sure you know what I mean.

After lunch we went out into the garden, where Mom showed us apples on her new tree and some beautiful flowers growing in pots and in the garden itself. Being in her eighties, Mom can’t do some things around the place, so Bumble and I moved some bags of compost and the bench up to the top of the garden.

The sun shone beautifully and Mom and B sat on the newly positioned bench to chat, while I took photos to remind us of the day. It is always great to visit Mom, but living so far apart means that it doesn’t happen as often as I would like.

With the journey back to Bristol still ahead of us, and with Bumble keen to check that the house and the new lodger were safe and sound, we set off just after 5:00. Again the weather was kind until we got near to home, then the heavens opened.

Suffice to say, we made it home in one piece and everything was indeed ship shape and Bristol fashion when we arrived. With things back to normal, the holiday really is over, but with a combined total of over a thousand photos, we will remember it for a very long time.