We’re learning to surf this winter as we slow travel westwards along the northern Spanish coast. Our first foray into the Atlantic waves was San Sebastián in the Basque Country where great barrelling waves thundered us into the shore either on or off the surfboard beneath the deepest of blue skies. I’m writing this today from Sopela a smaller town about two hours west where the waves are as bright (if not as bold), but the parking is easier. The…
Sophie McKeand as one voice in an ocean, she holds no power you shape her, fold wave / within wave. when contained by hydro-dams, or stifled in water butts her energy is stagnated potential sluiced through the gutter press & out into a wild night her mouth is wicked you source her surface for erotic inspiration hold her accountable for awkward erections pressure memories underground until the earth frAct/ures once she was a goddess formless / in form, your ancestors worshipped her free & unfettered.…
We’ve reached the Atlantic! The pure energy of this unfathomably huge body of water is powering into dreams and I cannot wait to learn to surf her waves this winter. We’re still embracing slow travel, frugal living, & minimalism, so our total spend for a half-day’s surfing for two in San Sebastián is: €3.10 on an all-day carpark ticket, €2.50 on board wax and €1.25 on a loaf of bread. The waves are free! The smiles are free! The beach…
you have been steadily ascending a hike of the Valle del Madriu Perafita Claror for a few hours. The sun is a peach roasting slowly in azure skies. You stop for a break, rest weary feet; the hounds wade and drink. Deep in your being there is an urge to swim. You ignore it. Drink coffee. Eat cake. Still it is there – the need to feel that glacial-cold water on bare skin. You have no swimming costume or towel…
It was a honour to create a ring ceremony for the wedding of two friends in Bute Park, Cardiff this summer. Aidan and Darren both spend a lot of time in the park, the place was instrumental in the early years of their relationship coming together, so it made sense to affirm their love for each other there. I know the trees of Bute Park, I’ve sat with them, dreamed with them, held heart & mind still with them, and…
Wanted to give a shout out here to all the van lifers working at living responsibly on the road. It’s great to see people trying to live ethical lives & sharing these ideas for us all to try. I’ve been living full time in this self-converted Mercedes Sprinter van with my partner @andyrgarside & our two rescue van hounds since November 2017. We’ve definitely improved our eco-approach to life on the road as time rolls by. From the beginning we…
Sometimes it’s the simplest thing. A hot day, a too-shallow river; and then a slight bend where the water deepens so that I can swim in circles. Start by pushing up into the current, then flip on my back to be swirled like an autumn leaf downstream, when I hit the bend flip again to power upstream, then flip to shimmy down; repeat, repeat, repeat; smile, grin, smile. ? @andyrgarside ??? …
The water is a cloud of swifts detonating against body. Feet grip the stone fortress as an army of bubbles shatters time into skin. I am at peace here, immersed in the white noise. Every day the world is reborn so that we might start over. You cannot step into the same day twice. The water swallows me whole. I emerge moments, or lifetimes later, older, stronger, wiser: letting go of the woman I was, the water pushes me towards…
