Lifeguard

Yesterday I started a new painting of Druidstone. It is coming on and I hope to finish it tomorrow. Today Alex and I are going to work on the new shop for the co-operative Origin Dyfed in Kings Street, Carmarthen. It is a lovely space and there is a lot to do to get it ready for opening. We have been away but other members have been working hard.

The sketch above is of a lifeguard in Gran Canaria. Alex and I went to the beach. Because the water shelves quickly from the shore she was a bit nervous and only wanted to paddle, which is understandable. So one of our daughters’s persuaded her in while I had a swim not far off shore. It was lovely and I thought quite warm. Judging by the shrieks coming from Alex she didn’t agree. The waves were nothing and just broke gently on the shore. Anyway I was swimming along gently when a large swell suddenly appeared. It was a real one off Atlantic Roller coming in. I swam up it without any problem as it hadn’t started to break but when I looked back to the shore I could see Alex and my daughter standing in the shallows. The wave must have broken about ten feet over them. Anyway they disappeared from view. The next thing I saw was two backsides and legs in the air amongst the breaking wave. They had been knocked over backwards and were washed up the beach. I swam back and got out. Alex was like a drowned rat she had also lost her prescription sunglasses in the sea. She had also hurt her hand but was otherwise ok. At that point I allowed myself to burst into fits of laughter. We found her sunglasses and she recovered her composure and continued to insist through the day that it had been a tsunami! At least she isn’t prone to exaggeration.