30DWC - Your commute to and from work/school/etc.

Day 13: Your commute to and from work/school/etc.

At least I don't have to remember too far back in time for this one as I went to work today! For me school/work are one and the same. I only have a short distance to commute and I live nearly at the end of the world so there is very little traffic. I usually pass a school bus that is heading to a school further up the valley and give the driver a friendly wave on the way. It's always good to see that bus coming towards me because I know I'll get to work on time!

The end of my road provides a vista of the bay which changes in colour and tone in accordance with the weather. It can be dark and menacing or bright and beautiful...or any shade in between. It can be smooth as glass or filled with rolling, foam-topped waves threatening to redesign that familiar shoreline. Some days it is dressed in rainbows. The islands bid me a brief 'Good morning' as I turn and head along the road that follows the coast. 

As if to challenge the bay and its beauty, I am soon afforded the sight of magnificent Adamson's Peak. The mountain is stunning whether graced with a scarf of wispy cloud or back-lit by a stark blue sky. In winter and sometimes autumn or spring it might be wearing a snowy white beanie. Always it is breathtaking and provides a fantastic backdrop to our town. 

I scoot around a few curves in the road, slow down a little past the park and caravan park and soon find myself turning into the school grounds to park. I usually spend a moment or two to gather my thoughts. I'm often rushing and it's embarrassing to think that colleagues who travel much greater distances get to work ahead of me. I find it hard to leave my quiet little home in the morning. I love best the days when I can move at a leisurely pace and stay or leave as it suits me (weekends and holidays!!). 

Heading home I am lucky enough to have the option of stopping off for a stroll by the sea or a brisk walk. If necessary I can unload the worries and woes of the day to any willing seagull or oyster-catcher, and if I'm lucky I might catch sight of a soaring sea eagle or goshawk. I can gulp in lungfuls of some of the freshest and least interrupted air on the planet. 

Admittedly I don't actually do that as often as I might. Writing about it here though, makes me realise that I am beyond lucky to have this opportunity and it is decidedly remiss of me not to make best advantage of it. Hold me to it people. I promise to take a walk tomorrow and I'll think of you all out there. Mostly I scoot back around those bends with the mountain watching my back 'til I'm back up the hill with the kettle on and peering at the bay from a distance.

All the same, whether I'm coming or going, I am grateful beyond words for what has to be the best commute in the world. I sometimes think about people living in the midst of great cities with fumes and pollution making air hard to breathe. I think of being trapped in traffic jams for miles and feeling the tension of all that frustration and fear of road rage erupting from others strung out to the end of their tethers.  For all the convenience that might afford - cinemas and theatres, restaurants and events, shopping and galleries, libraries and museums - I wouldn't swap places, no way. 

Cheers for now

Kerry x