Beauty and Sadness

Pats and I are at a Home hardware Conference in Woolacombe this weekend for my work. On the Saturday afternoon, during an extended break before the Gala Dinner we decided to head off to the Coast Path for a hike. We covered 8.81 km and felt very virtuous, especially as we had eaten the mother of all cooked breakfasts earlier in the day. We turned the corner at Morte Point, the Point of Death named because of the rocks and the danger to shipping, and were greeted by a gorgeous view, shown below. The light was perfect and I cursed not having my camera with me, so just used the phone to capture the moment.

We continued our hike and quite by accident stumbled on a beautiful little churchyard overlooking the Bay. It was peaceful and tranquil; a beautiful spot to rest for just a few moments or eternity. Patsy found a lovely gravestone to a young woman called Harriet who had died at the age of 15. On the reverse was a quote that was truly beautiful. I took another photo which is also below. Walking back up the path to the gate I was reading those words again on my phone and broke. I sat and sobbed, I couldn’t move. The pain of Evie’s loss back at full power once again, but also the pain for another set of parents somewhere nearby mourning the death of their own teenage daughter.

This afternoon’s hike had shown us the beauty of our countryside, the tranquility of a man-made graveyard and the bitter sweet words on a gravestone. Beauty and sadness all in one.