The sun on your back

Boxing Days are great, aren't they? In my 'former life' as a retail manager Boxing Day was the first day of the sales - so Christmas holidays were pretty short affairs. In recent years Boxing Days carried some pretty special memories. It was on Boxing Day 2001 that the city of Bam, Iran, was hit by a terrible earthquake. This prompted some chaotic days over Christmas as we planned a trip out there and tried (unsuccessfully as it turned out) to get a visa to enter the country. I was actually heading out to the airport that year when I received a phone call from the British Embassy in Tehran informing m that the waiving of visas for humanitarian relief personnel had been withdrawn and that I wouldn't get in without one. I turned round, went home, and never did travel to Iran.
Then in 2002 the south Asian tsunami hit - throwing humanitarian agencies all around the world into a mad panic. I don't suppose I'll ever forget those feelings of helplessness as our office found ourselves trying to tie The Salvation Army's international support together and the horrendous days that followed. Ironically, today's newspaper (6 years on) carried a report that the people of Aceh in Indonesia are begging aid agencies to stop building new houses there as there aren't enough people to fill them! This mirrors what we (TSA) discovered - I learned just this year that there were not enough impacted families to take up the new homes and that they were being given to anyone who had been a family connection with a tsunami impacted family! Despite that, it's still reckoned that only half of the money donated to the tsunami appeals has even been spent.
Today life is rather more mundane. I haven't watched the news with bated breath wondering whether my bag should be packed and readied. However, it's not without new adventures. This morning I did something I've been meaning to do ever since arriving here in Portsmouth in the summer. I parked up near the Anglican cathedral and then jogged along the seafront as far as the Royal Marines museum in Eastney and back again. It was a lovely run - about 50 minutes in total. The place was inundated with families enjoying a walk along the sea wall - and dozens of fellow joggers jostling for space between and around the walkers. Jogging etiquette is interesting - there are those who nod and greet as you pass, others who ignore you (their loss, eh?). The run out of town was nice, but running into the sun and with a head wind I found my eyes and nose streaming and walkers just a dark shadow as I tried to jog around them.

Reaching the statue of the marine which marks the entrance to the museum I turned round and headed back again. What a difference - no longer squinting into the sun and with a gentle breeze blowing me along the homeward run was so much more enjoyable. I looked out over the sea and noticed the boats and ferries making their way around the harbour. I could make out the faces of the people walking and enjoying each other's company. It's such a shame when we are so busy sceewing our eyes up to see and with our head down into the breeze that we miss the good things around us.

Reminded me of the words of an old Irish prayer, which I leave for you to ponder and of which I ask for my family and friends today:

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.