{"id":12461,"date":"2018-02-09T19:42:26","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T18:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archive.richardlittledale.co.uk\/?p=12461"},"modified":"2018-02-10T11:34:59","modified_gmt":"2018-02-10T10:34:59","slug":"a-thin-place-on-a-wintry-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/2018\/02\/09\/a-thin-place-on-a-wintry-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"A thin place on a wintry hill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another postcard from the land of grief<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes when living far from home, people will take a little soil from the \u2018old country\u2019 with them. In the new and unfamiliar place, there is then always a connection with the old beneath their feet.<\/p>\n

This morning I stood on a windswept slope in West Berkshire, overlooking Watership Down. As the snow blew all around, I laid the ashes of my very best friend to rest. As seasons come and go and the cherry tree planted there begins to flower, she will be especially remembered. It is a \u2018thin\u2019 place – standing in the new but not far from the old. I\u2019ve a feeling that Ginny<\/a> and I will often be found there – her quivering with excitement at the scents on the breeze, and me grateful for all the years I had.<\/p>\n

On this occasion, nobody else\u2019s words would do, so I wrote my own tribute:<\/p>\n

You are the crest on a breaking wave<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are the kite wheeling in a golden sky<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are the scrunch of stones washed by the sea<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are the last and hardest steps to see the mountain view<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are the wisdom in the eyes of our sons<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are the courage in their hearts<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are the meter which stops the poem from seeping into prose<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are the note which stands a between dissonance and harmony<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are a chord within my heart, now playing only half a tune<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are the pause , the breath taken before a foolish response<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are the rich depth of Autumn<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The promise of Spring<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Summer joy of a perfect sky<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The welcome nip of a Winter\u2019s day<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are half of me, and I am half of you<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You are, forever, my bravest and best<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"D7F9C406-1F61-4152-AAA2-FDF18F388319\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"7D3CF28C-184E-4A08-9618-4991FB3F171A\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another postcard from the land of grief Sometimes when living far from home, people will take a little soil from the \u2018old country\u2019 with them. In the new and unfamiliar place, there is then always a connection with the old … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12461"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12461"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12466,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12461\/revisions\/12466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}