#35: Reflections from the shore

Nairn beach, 0852, minutes after high tide, 3.6 metres today. The Wagtail seems intrigued by me this morning. Circuling the bench and landing on the grass just 6 foot away. Eyeballing me as he cocks his head. I wonder if he knows it is me again?  The Oystercatchers are also close by, five of them not catching Oysters but getting their long beaks dirty prodding for worms in the damp grass on the links. Windless, bright and sunny today, with ripples out on the firth suggesting the lightest of breezes beyond the shore. Patches of calm water look like boat contrails, sweeping in arcs across the bay. Little energy in the waves now as they sneak up onto the beach unnoticed by the frolicking dogs.  A different swimmer today, fully wetsuited, crawling in the calm conditions, ice cream face. A different world beneath the surface just a cold breathe away.

#34: Reflections from the shore

Nairn beach, 0853, an hour and a half after high tide. The fisherman is already on his way back, his headlights and dark silhouette looking like cats eyes on the flat grey firth. A cold water swimmer, David probably, slowly breastroking away the day. A paddle boarder heading West into where the water is silvery blue, a satsuma orange hint in the foreshore still left over from the ever later sunrises. A large honking skein of geese go over head. Threads of wool wiggling in the sky, the final skein in perfect V formation. The pied wagtail closer today, close enough to see the pale yellow of his face. No waves today the firth shimmering like crinkled tin foil. Snow now on Ben Wyvis, but still not cold yet in Nairn. More geese, and yet more geese. Something deeply satisfying and habitual about migratory geese in such times of uncertainty and change.

#33: Reflections from the shore

Nairn Beach, 0854. An hour or so after low tide the green clad rocks exposed on the beach, with their endlessly fascinating rockpools waiting to be explored. The end of the groyne visible next to a large, still wet from the falling tide, expanse of sand. A dull reflective glow on the wet beach. Shipping forecast says gales today, except in Biscay. A southwesterly means we only have drizzle so far in Nairn this morning.  Out on the firth some of the giant industry of the oil rigs hovers on the horizon, transporting tall metalwork legs aboard a boat which looks like an old four masted pirate ship as it merges with the mist. An Oystercatcher pipes as it hurriedly flies past, close to my bench. A red beak flashing against it's black and white stripes. Amid the clouds across the firth a near vertical rainbow emerges from the dark clouds over Cromarty, hinting at sunken treasure out at sea. Strikingly bright colours of nature set against the dark skies. Rainbows of hope. 

#32: Reflections from the shore

Nairn beach, 0915. Rising tide, not high until 1243. Lots of new sand deposited up the beach. Pebbles moved into mini stone crescents by the fullness of recent tides. The swell rushing South Eastward, gulls effortlessly gliding at speed toward the harbour. The waves by the groyne today very semi-circular, like a Spanish flamenco fan, their edges lit up towards the East beach. The lighthouse and the old bar beyond. A flock of Knots wheel and dance together, maybe 30 birds, twisting and turning together in the sun by the harbour wall. A dozen Oystercatchers chatting to each other as they head inland over the trees on the links.  All the leaves of the links now dropped, lifeless brown with dark spots, tumbling along in the breeze. Like the pebbles eventually gathering together in their windless pockets, knee deep in places. Just one boat on the water this morning, faded in the light and mist toward the Black isle. 

#31: Reflections from the shore

Nairn beach, 8:57. A rising tide, with still over an hour to go the water level is already where it was this time yesterday, high up the beach. Tide tables say the height will be 4.3 metres but no waves are crashing against the prom today. The Firth gently moves, reminding me of Farrow & Ball grey, much like the sky.  Just two boats out on the water, parked outside the entrance to Cromarty firth across the way.  Beyond the boats a patch of blue sky above the Black isle. Quiet. Even the gulls are quiet this morning.  I think I will sit for a while. Pied wagtail bouncing close by my bench, joyous little thing.

#30: Reflections from the shore

Nairn beach, 0858. High tide. Two rowing skiffs out bobbing on the swell heading gently East. Julian strolling into the sea in just his shorts, embracing the 9 degree sea and starting his slow front crawl along the beach, headed west.  The distant piping of the Oystercatcher in between the lapping waves high up on the shingle, the groyne two thirds submerged. The lobster pot fisherman is out replacing the creels, no doubt. Low clouds cling to the top of the Soutars with a glint of sun on Cromarty across the firth. Dogs excitedly greet each other on the slither of beach. Owners do the same. 

#29: Do you have a DNF or DNS this year?

Do you have unfinished business? Is there something not yet complete?  I am a finisher.  I like to complete a commitment.  Sometimes this trait has led me to push myself to unreasonable limits, going beyond, just for the feeling of finishing.  

In athletic parlance, a DNF is a ‘Did Not Finish.’  I have previously prided myself on always getting to the finish line in sporting events and always completing projects and things I do at work.  But this year, I have picked up a few DNFs, which would previously have bothered me.  For example, I have a DNF from the Diss Triathlon a few years ago, where multiple punctures meant I travelled to the finish line in the gloom of the broom wagon, a silent dark space in the back of a white van, with three other men in lycra who also should have known better. But this year, for obvious reasons, it is sometimes simply impossible to do what you set out to do.  I am practising letting go.  Does it really matter if the to-do list doesn’t get ticked off?  If something remains unfinished, is that such a bad thing?  Maybe there is a better time for this thing to be done, or a better person to do it.  Letting go can be liberation but it needs practice. Try it yourself and see if it works for you.  It’s OK not to achieve your goals, and if you are aiming high then there will be some things you have not hit, and maybe will not.

But a failure to finish is very different from a failure to start.  So, I picked up a DNS in last year’s Loch Ness Marathon.  Did Not Start.  I had been dreaming of running this marathon, tagged as one of the most scenic in the UK, for years.  Finally, I found myself living near the start and my dream event within reach.  A year of marathon training was thwarted by illness two days ahead of the race.  The 2020 race, of course, didn’t happen either, so I still have the DNS to my name for that event.  But I will eventually start that race.  In my work, there are a few more things yet to start.  I started Dementia Adventure, something I am very glad and proud of beginning.  There is a book or some more writing ahead of me in my next work phase, which I have yet to start.  Do you have something in your life you would like to start?  Looking back, do you wish you had started something years ago when you had the chance?  A DNS is very different from a DNF.  

Overall, it doesn’t really matter how many DNF and DNS you end up with in life so long as you have a winning track record.  Are you winning in life, winning in work?  Is there something you don’t need to finish?  Is there something you need to start?

Need it always be a mountain to climb?

#28: Bellicosity has no place in our city

I was on the back seat of a bus in some distant corner of the Amazon jungle in Peru when I first came across the word Bellicose.  The diminutive native Peruvian sitting next to me had become intrigued about my presence on the bus and where I was from.  Upon telling him I was from Inglaterra his words were short and so was the rest of the conversation muy belicoso.  Very war-like. 

I have never agreed with the war-like language so often used to refer to illnesses and health conditions, the latest pandemic being an example.  There are numerous examples of bellicose language - in that people are said to be ‘battling, fighting’ dementia for example and hopefully ‘defeating’ in the case of some cancers.  Politicians and public health policy often slip into war-like language such as ‘winning the battle against the invisible enemy.’ These negative words will no longer do when what we are needing is positive directions. War-like words do not serve us in our search for positivity.

Thankfully, in health care settings the more positive phrase ‘living with’ has become more dominant in recent years than its awful predecessor ‘suffering’.  An illness, dementia or cancer, for example, does not define who I am.  Nor should COVID define who we are, yet it is something we are living with.  Like dementia or cancer, it is something which has come into our lives unbeckoned.  In the face of such adversity or challenge, we would be better placed to talk of kindness, compassion and thinking of helping others first.  Helping people see the opportunities as well as the challenges which still exist ahead.

Let us not talk or refer to war out of its rightful context and instead turn our full attention to finding hope, kindness and positivity.  We can all lead the change in how we talk our way through this together.

#27: Nairn a Ten-minute town

In the recent holiday period, Nairn has received a fair number of visitors.  Whilst the increase in people on the beach and in the town has brought some increased anxiety for some, it has been great to see so many families enjoying traditional time on the beach and in the sea.  An increasing number of these visitors are either dreaming of living in Nairn (recent comment overheard on the beach ‘imagine living here’ as reported on Nairn Rocks) or are visiting with property searches in mind. Scotland’s house prices reached record highs this month according to Rightmove which has seen its busiest month for sales in a decade. With home working now becoming the longer-term work mode for so many people there is an increase in interest for housing from those seeking a ‘lifestyle change.’  Unsurprisingly those from south of Birmingham and within the commuter belt of London are driving much of this interest. Do read my previous blog post #14 if you are thinking of moving to a remote corner of Scotland which outlines how our family decided on Nairn as our new home.

There are a variety of models emerging through the lockdown period which encourage us to maintain thinking about how we can live, work and shop locally.  In Melbourne, Australia they are developing 20-minute neighbourhoods, an article in the FT recently spoke about 15-minute cities.  We had a friend up visiting from Essex recently looking to retire to Nairn.  One of the common selling points we often find ourselves saying in support of Nairn is that ‘everything you could need is within ten minutes walk or cycle’.  As we all look to build on environmental progress towards carbon-neutral towns and cities it is likely that we are going to see a resurgence in ten-minute towns like Nairn.

What makes a good ten-minute town?  Services and quality of life within ten minutes from the home that doesn’t involve getting in a car.  For example, a good ten-minute town, like Nairn, would have:

• Healthcare facilities 

• Work and employment opportunities

• Schools and care homes

• Shops, pubs and restaurants

• Entertainment and sporting clubs

• Places of worship

• Pocket parks, blue spaces and green spaces linked as nature corridors across the town

• Bus and train stations and stops for accessing places further afield

In Nairn, you have all of these plus the fresh sea air and a sense of peace and quiet that can be quickly obtained from just a few minutes listening to the waves on the miles of sandy beaches.  But far from being the perfect place Nairn still has a lot to do to win a gold standard for the ten-minute town.  There is an investment needed in infrastructure which prioritises walking and cycling - an obvious missing business in the town is a bike hire & maintenance shop.  Whilst the river and beaches are stunning there could be more spaces for nature to move around the town through green corridors.  And there are too many High street shops empty which could become new social businesses or much-needed housing and multi-use sites.  Many of us have recently appreciated just how important the services and quality of life is local to home.  Ten-minute towns like Nairn just might start to flourish again.

#26: TEDx - Thinking Differently about Dementia - Neil Mapes

A few months ago I had the pleasure, whilst CEO of Dementia Adventure, of delivering a TEDx talk called Thinking Differently about Dementia.  It is a simple idea which I hope you will support me to spread. Dementia Adventure, an organisation I am extremely proud to have founded with Lucy Harding needs all of our ongoing support to enable more people with dementia to have both small and big experiences safely outdoors.  If you know someone with dementia in your friend or family network please share this TEDx talk with them, it is my personal and heartfelt explanation of how to think and act differently drawing on nature and the outdoors.

Please consider watching and sharing my TEDx talk here

Please consider supporting and sharing the work of Dementia Adventure.

Thank you for your support, stay safe and well :)