There’s More Than One Path in Life

It was such a beautiful day yesterday and we wanted to make the most of the sunshine on our Friday evening.

‘Let’s go to the beach after school, collect friends on the way, swim and eat fish and chips?’ The saying ‘Carpe Diem’ rang true.

We stopped off to collect our friends, threw our swimming togs and towels in the back of the car and off we went. We chatted ferociously, catching up on each others news and stories, filling in the gaps from when we last met.

On our journey the road splits and I always have to really think of my end destination. If I go right at Woolworth’s corner it takes me to Lyme Regis. If I go left at Jack Cornelius Toy Shop, it’s West Bay. We fancied a sandy beach so Lyme Regis it was. In between the chattering and laughing I came up for air and realised we had gone the wrong way. Where we should have gone right I had turned left. But hey ho, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t the quickest route to Lyme but it was a trip down memory lane.

We passed West Bay, boating on the river and getting caught in the reeds, Eype, the deep shelf and under current where one can go from paddling to swimming in the blink of an eye, Symondsbury, great wedding, Seatown, Iiving in a caravan for three months in between house moves, Charmouth, great dam building from my childhood to Pip’s and then finally our destination, Lyme Regis, sandy beach, pink, yellow and blue beach huts and great fish and chips.

When I drive this route my mind flashes with memories of all my ages. From a small child to teenager and all the decades that have passed. I can see the paths I have taken, twisting and turning, dead ends and u-turns but always with friends, happy, rewarding, good and true, all filled with laughter and perhaps a few too many ice creams, but hey, who’s counting?!