One Love - We Are All One Family...
I am sitting on our balcony with the sun going down; the air is cooler and the day now has a Sunday evening tranquil feel to it, broken only occasionally by the zoom of a car speeding by, sometimes accompanied by body throbbing music coming from its interior!
I am feeling a little fragile from my ‘Top Tumble’ – this is a term that my running friend Jim calls those dramatic ‘flingings to the floor’ that can happen out running; especially when snowy, taken a few of those - or muddy, those too – or, I have now discovered, when practicing a new skill called ‘running down rocky hills deftly’!
When we were in Corfu a couple of weeks ago, we met up for a drink with our friends in Kassiopi, Nikos, Thanasis and Kostas…
The conversation turned to the Kassias Dias race this coming May… I announced that I would start practicing for the ‘extremely steep’ (polite description!) downhill stretches, while I was in St Lucia... I knew that there are very rocky steep hilly areas near Donkey Beach…
Since I have been returning from my Achilles injury, the farthest I have run has been eight miles – so today was the day planned to cover a few more!
I anticipated around twelve – and in the end, we arrived home just short of fourteen…
We woke at 5.40 a.m (for ‘we’, read me, who woke Anadi!)
We drank coffee and tea on the balcony watching the dawning of the day, to the accompaniment of our friend the cockerel.
We set off through the village just after 6a.m, the day still cool and fresh from rainfall in the night, the roads still wet.
Some of the locals in Gros Islet were up and about too, and they waved at us as we jogged by…
We ran on the road past the golf course where we had delivered our little dog friend last Monday, and then turned right off the road and onto an incredible, beautiful, expanse of wild and free terrain; horses roam and impressive cactus plants grow, dotted all about, sometimes clustering in groups, then spreading out in a line; tall and thin; standing to attention.
Rocky, stony, grassy, dusty beauteous; sun drenching land. We ran to a promontory and stood looking out to sea; the music of crashing waves below us.
We stood in joyous celebration of being alive here on this planet; appreciating the abundance of nature; our beautiful universe; and our love.
We turned to run back from where we had come, the wind whipping our words away; so we ran in silence.
I practiced, as planned, on all the rocky steep descents… ‘By the end of our time here, I will be far more proficient’, I said to Anadi…
It is not my strength - trail running downhill - I am pretty awesome up! My strength and endurance comes into its own and I overtake many of those who fly past me on the downhill stretches!
After running around the Donkey beach area for while, we decided to head for the beach we know; then make our way home from there... But, we were not sure if we were going in the right direction…
‘Isn’t that pigeon island in the distance?’ Anadi said…
I looked up, and thought ‘Yes it is’; my next thought was that this meant, that we were going in the opposite direction…
And that is when the top tumble happened…
In the moment that I was not in the moment, I tripped on a jutting out stone; I tried to catch myself up, to save the fall… And then I let go.
When we were young, Rosy and I were taught to shadow box by our Dad! He also taught us how to fall, to relax and ‘roll with the punch…!’
I didn’t manage the rolling bit; but I did ‘let go’ and relax; which did take some of the impact out, I think, although it was still a mighty crash, face down on the rocky ground!
A top tumble indeed…
‘How did that happen’ I said to Anadi once I was up and we were on our way to find the beach again… Quite ‘softly softly’ on our way, as I was feeling shaky and in shock.
‘Those things generally happen when we are not in the moment’ he said…
One thing is for sure; it brought me well and truly back to the moment!
‘But you were practicing a new skill too’ he continued ‘and practicing anything new often means making mistake on the way to learning the perfect practice…’
We had a bit of a challenge finding the beach; we could see the sparkling blue sea; two horses were being ridden in the waters edge, right up to their tummies; a jet ski sped by… We kept reaching brambles and rocks and ‘no way throughs’; until suddenly, like magic, the way revealed itself to us… And then it was a clear route right down to the beach.
A family of three, a couple and their little girl were on the edge of the sand as we emerged... ‘Ouch, are you okay’ the woman asked… She spoke with an American accent.
‘Yes, yes, I am, thank you’ I smiled at the family; the little girl stared and stared with fascination at my blood caked leg, arms, hands and tummy!
‘I fell over’ I said to her; and she continued to look and look, calmly and curiously…
The sea was like walking into a wonderful healing balm; after I had washed the blood off, we walked across the beach to find somewhere to get water…
We were greeted by a man; he offered to cut the tops of two coconuts for us to drink; then he saw my body!
Oh come with me’ he said ‘I will care for you; I am the good Samaritan; we are all here to look after one another… One love.’
He instructed a younger man to cut the tops off two coconuts and then directed me to go and sit in the shade…
His name is Roddy; he lives on the beach he told us; and his young friend is called Gabriel..
They asked us about us, and we told them of how we have no possessions except what we carry with us; of our nomadic existence.
‘Smart move’ Gabriel said….
We drank the coconut juice with relish and then Gabriel chpopped the tops of two more and brought them to us….
Roddy appeared with freshly cut Aloe Vera and some tissues and water.
He gently gently washed off any extra blood that kept flowing; and then cleaned every wound; he went into them, and took out all the stony, dusty stuff; and then smeared me in the Aloe.
Next he fetched a lime, which he cut in half and then he squeezed it into every wound! It was very sting y sting y ! But I knew it was for my healing…
‘These things happen man’ he said ‘But God is looking after you…’
“You are looking after me’ I said; ‘Thank you...’
We see God in the face of one another; all the time. I love the line from the musical 'Les Miserables'.
‘To love another person is to see the face of God’
I would say the same thing when trusting another person. I trusted Roddy and let him help me… My little finger would not bend and was swelling up from the impact it had taken in breaking my fall.
Roddy looked at it; and picked it up, and then he squeezed it and asked me if he could pull it; I said ‘yes, do whatever you need to’.
‘My mother was a doctor in the bush’ he said ‘I learnt some things from her; we must get the pain out; I can feel it in there’.
‘I can feel the pain too’ Gabriel said; he was sitting watching it all going on, and Anadi sat nearby too…
Roddy squeezed and pulled and bent it too; until the pain made me feel dizzy and I asked if I could lie down for a bit!
After his magical work, my finger could bend again and the pain was gone... The bruising started to emerge then; blue and purple – the healing process was in action.
Finally he brought me ice for the bruising in a little red sock; he told me to lie down for awhile until I felt ready for the last stretch to home;
'There is no hurry; there is no need to rush…
Take you time’ he said. ‘We are all friends; we are all one family;
We are all here for one another….’
