Life's a Journey, Aye!: Wednesday - Highlights of Southampton

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Wednesday - Highlights of Southampton

Weather today, still a little rainy, Good fine English weather :) not cold, and NO SNOW!! Headed off to Southampton to John Lewis (fancy department store) and enjoyed breakfast overlooking Ikea and Southampton water, with all of its shipping interests, varied and interesting sights to be seen.........

Then off on a car tour of the city, saw the Bar Gate which was the original entrance to the city built sometime around the 1100's..... impressive fortification! And beautiful still..... now located in the middle of the city due to the city growing around it. Pictures to come.....

Walked around Southampton a little bit... found a bank machine that worked for me... then off the quay, and Mayflower park.... yes, the same Mayflower as in the Plymouth Rock American Thanksgiving people!! The ship "Mayflower" departed from Southampton, as well did the Titanic, with somewhat less of an outcome........ saw the Calshot light ship which was used for many years as a portable lighthouse (moored) off the end of the Calshot spit (basically a gravel bar extending from the land out into the water - an oops for boats apparently), which juts out into the Solent (a large estuary)

Buzzed by St. Mary's Stadium, the stadium where the Southampton Saints football club play (also saw the training grounds for the Saints closer to Marchwood).

Came back for a little rest -supposed to be sleeping - tried. tried some more.. gave up....

Then off to Calshot Beach, walked on the beach, lovely pebble and shell beach...OoOOOOh very lovely rocks and shells.... little beach huts - all well kept and pretty!! Looked across the solent to see the Isle of Wight, and watched the ferry boats crossing, saw the big hangars built during the second world war, and did some work designing and building flying boats - google names like - Sopwith, Schneider, Sunderland - very large flying boats. Saw Calshot Castle, with its matching in-ocean counterparts seen off the coastline.

Then off to the country, down to Lepe beach, and Beaulieu village (reputedly, though not proven to be the home of Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler - we will stalk him later..... )
Crossed into the edge of the News Forest, with all its common land use animals - ponies, cows, and pigs! Very beautiful landscape....... gorgeous coastline...... Saw the estate of Lord Montague at Beaulieu, astonishing!! The Village is beautiful, many gorgeous old houses, all of brick and stone!!

Then of to Lymington, and character town, and looked at the High Street, filled with interesting and varied shops. Did some grocery shopping there in a very nice, high end grocery store, and picked up fixings for dinner, which we took back to Peter's to make. Enjoyed cooking together and then watched Love, Actually and enjoyed our dinner. Headed back to the hotel for a bath, and we are tucked in watching TV and writing the blog. Peter isn't feeling well, has developed a bit of a cold.

Has been a lovely day, the surroundings beautiful, verdant and green, and the company warm, and hmmmmmmmm.

Will make a concerted effort to get the camera going! If I can sleep tonight I make be back on track.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone! And as we let our light shine, we give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Get out there, and let your light shine! (and yup, that last bit added by me!)

A quote often attributed to Nelson Mandela, but written by Marianne Williamson. Shared with me by my sister Noelle.

Change in Direction

Have been watching with more and more horror the images which reach us here in our nice, warm, safe home of Haiti, post-earthquake.

Many calls have gone out for help, and many have responded in ways they are able - donations, time, with prayer, and deeds.

The thought of all they are suffering has been niggling at my conscience. So. I asked my sister if she knew of aid agencies taking volunteers She did, and put me in touch with a very large and well known one. One with resources and 'pull' - one which is respected and known around the globe. Seemed snesible to me to volunteer with one which is well known, and has resources to support its activities and its volunteers.

So. Tuesday I sent in my application to go as a paramedic to serve in the field hospitals/clinics of Haiti.

If accepted I will go.

So from you dear readers, I will need a continuous supply of positive thoughts, and encouragement. My stint will be for only 2 weeks but I fully expect it will be a life changing experience.

So this will be a different sort of blog that I usually write. No night shots of the Eiffel Tower, no cathedrals, no castles, no Scottish countryside scenes, no flower gardens. I expect the only monuments I will see are those of human spirit - struggling to make themselves and their country right.

I will start by posting some facts about Haiti, and you shall learn about this country right along with me as I do.

I have always known a certain saying, and have always felt it applies to me, in that I have been quite blessed in life. The way I remembered it is:

"To whom much is given, much is expected".

-Michelle, to whom much has been given - and who is staring into the near future, hoping to be more than adequate to the job ahead.

The History of the Scottish flag - The saltire

From http://www.scotlandsource.com/ -

It has been believed by generations of Scotsmen that the national flag, the white saltire on a blue background, the oldest flag in Europe, originated in a battle fought here in Athelstaneford (and I am going there, wahoo!!) in the Dark Ages between the Picts and Scots on the one side and the Angles of Northumbria on the other. (around 832 AD).

There are many versions of the story but they generally agree that an army of the Picts under their King Angus (or Hungus) aided by a contingent of the Scots was invading Lothian (then and for long afterwards Northumbrian territory), and found themselves surrounded by a massive force of the Angles under their leader Athelstan. King Angus and his host prayed earnestly for deliverance to God and the saints.

That night St. Andrew (the Patron Saint of Scotland) appeared to the king and promised him victory.

On the next day when battle was joined, the vision of a white saltire (the diagonal cross on which the Apostle had been martyred) was seen by all against the blue sky. This so encouraged the Picts and Scots and frightened their adversaries that the former won a signal victory.

In the pursuit, so the tradition goes on, the Northumhbrian leader Athelstan was slain at the crossing of the Peffer or Cogtail Burn, the site of which is marked by Athelstaneford Mains Farm, about half a mile south-east of the village.

The probable site of the battle is at nearby Prora Farm,where there is a field called "The Bloody Field, close by the Peffer Burn, (this burn runs into Aberlady Bay, to the west, whereas the first mentioned Peffer Burn runs east to the sea).

The Saltire is also known as the Saint Andrew' s Cross.

Robbie Burns

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a "light" Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these pieces, his political or civil commentary is often at its most blunt.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world, celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was voted by the Scottish public as being the Greatest Scot.

Life's a Journey, Aye!

In the words of Ewan MacGregor, "The Long Way Down"

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Wednesday - Highlights of Southampton

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Lands end in Dorset....... next stop... FRANCE