Nothing reminds me of my childhood, more than bales of hay. The sight of them in the fields around our home for waifs and strays always makes me sigh. The freshly cut grass left drying in the sun tells me that summer has arrived again.

     ‘Come down off that tractor!’ my poor father used to shout at me. ‘They don’t need your help with the hay!’ What he was trying to say was, ‘I’m afraid of you falling under its wheels!’ But spending my entire childhood in the country, taught me to take risks!

      I scrumped apples from the farmer’s orchards then ran like a rabbit when he chased me with a gun. I climbed and fell out of trees and rode half wild ponies bare back, down through the valley and across the beach. There wasn’t a cave I hadn’t entered in the steep cliffs surrounding our home. It was no wonder my father worried.

      But sitting with my comics on a summer’s day, leaning against a bale of hay, was one of my greatest memories of all. Perhaps it was the peacefulness, the simplicity of the time I spent growing up in a child’s paradise.

After a brief stroll across the beach early this morning, I came across this unfortunate Blue jellyfish. Its drifting days along the ocean currents,  finally came to an end on my favourite beach. I remembered my father telling me that washed up jelly fish are usually dead but they could still give you a nasty sting.

     The warm weather has seen an increase in the population of jellyfish around the Welsh coast. Research has discovered that since the collapse of the herring fishery in the Irish Sea, jellyfish have increased in population.

      Normally on the Welsh coast, we will see Lions mane, Moon jellyfish, Compass jellyfish and the Blue jellyfish. If you are lucky enough to see one gliding through the water, you will notice that in order to propel itself forward, the jellyfish will squirt water from its mouth.        

       These fascinating creatures with pulsating bodies, hunt for shrimps, crabs and tiny plants. In turn, they are hunted by turtles that appear to relish the Jellyfish. And the Chinese also hunt them for medicine.

        Jellyfish don’t purposefully attack humans. Most stings happen when they are touched accidently and sometimes, this can be fatal.

        Perhaps they are better left alone, to live their lives dancing with the waves.

Another wee tale from the Gusty Gully Chronicles

‘Let’s launch the boat!’ shouted Nautical Nick excitedly. ‘It’s as ready as it will ever be and it’s a grand day.’

      Seth and Selin stared down at the old boat they had been working on for the past year.

      ‘Are you sure it won’t sink?’ said Seth frowning. ‘We’ve only painted it after all!’

      His twin sister laughed. ‘We’ll soon find out if we take it to the beach. When shall we go?’

      ‘No time like the present,’ replied Nautical Nick, ‘guess my parents won’t mind me trying it out before they get home from work. We won’t go far!’

      Nautical Nick just couldn’t control his excitement. Within no time at all they had packed a bag with food and water and wrote a quick message to his parents so they would know where he was. Then they lifted the small boat onto a trailer and pulled it down through the village of Gusty Gully and on to the beach.             

       ‘Oh no,’ cried Selin, ‘I only told Tom the Egg and he must have told the whole school.

       The three friends looked in amazement at the children who had run down to the beach to witness the launch.

        ‘I hope it doesn’t sink!’ Seth spoke quietly, ‘or the whole school will be laughing.

        ‘Let’s get on with it!’ said Nautical Nick, ‘it won’t sink!’ So they set sail.

        It was calm, like a mill pond, as they pushed the boat into the sea.

        ‘I name this boat Winnie!’ shouted Nautical Nick enthusiastically, ‘after my grandmother who came by ship from Ireland.

        ‘May God bless her and all who sink in her...I mean sail in her!’ shouted one of the children who stood on the rocks.

        Seth, Selin and Nautical Nick ignored the remark and jumped in the boat as it floated in the water.

         ‘See,’ shouted Nautical Nick, ‘it’s sink proof!’  and he rowed merrily across the small bay while Seth and Selin sat either end of the boat.

         ‘Look!’ Seth pointed to a boat further out. ‘That’s Phil the Fish!’

         The three children shouted and waved but there was no sign of Phil the Fish.

         ‘Something’s wrong!’ said Nautical Nick. ‘I can feel it in my bones.

         Seth and Selin looked confused but said nothing.

          Nautical Nick rowed faster towards the old trawler. ‘Let’s get a closer look,’ he said, pulling up along side of it and shouted to Phil the Fish. But there was no reply.

          ‘What’s that strange noise?’ Selin frowned. ‘It’s coming from inside the boat.’

          Nautical Nick pulled in the oars and tied the little boat to the big one and climbed upon it.

           ‘Can you see him?’ shouted Seth.

           ‘I can see him,’ replied Nautical Nick, ‘but he’s banged his head or something, there’s blood running down his face. I think he’s unconscious.’

           ‘We’ll row back to the beach and get help,’ Seth shouted back and wasted no time in putting the oars back into the water.

           Later that day, when the rescue was over, the three children sat around the kitchen table and talked about their first adventure at sea.

           ‘Thank heavens Phil the Fish is safe and well again,’ Selin sighed. ‘I don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t have been there.’

           ‘I guess he will have to wash his deck down more often,’ said Nautical Nick, ‘or he’ll slip again and perhaps next time he’ll fall overboard!’

            The children laughed but they knew that what they said was right.

           ‘I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of many adventures at sea!’ said Selin.

           ‘Then I shall be known as Captain Nautical Nick!’ said Captain Nautical Nick!

There is a place in my heart that will always be forever wild, just like the Adirondack Mountains, Up State New York. This is where I lived for a short time, many summers ago.

     This 6 million acre wilderness with its 3,000 lakes and 30,000 miles of streams and rivers has made a footprint in my heart for the remainder of my life. Perhaps it is the way in which it rebels against all attempts to train it that appeals to me. I certainly feel one with nature when I am there, despite knowing that these spectacular mountains are home to the black bear.

      They roam through the forests, hunting for berries and nuts.  These big black eating machines prowl around the lakes, rivers and streams, hunting for small mammals and white – tailed deer fawn.

       Ursus americanus, as they are otherwise known, symbolize how wild this wilderness is. Let it remain forever wild.

A Poem to the Adirondacks

“The Poet of the Dusk”
John Shalhoub

Adirondacks, hills and valleys,
Are you listening?
Your splendor awes my spirit.
You grapple with the skies and the stars
My love lives in the shadow of your rocks.
Moving with soft winds by day
Attending to the whispers of my soul.
Your crown creeps into my dreaming soul.
Your crown reflects my love,
As I pass in waking dream through your forests
Of towering trees with murmuring tongues,
I salute your splendor,
And glorify the Maker,
Who bids me peace.
I stand dumb before you,
And speak to your soul in beautiful silence,
While the leaves play the music
To the clouds, mountains, hills, and valleys.
My love lives in your majesty
On the boughs of your spruces,
In every breeze across your face,
Through the ever greenness of your cloak,
Into the brightness of your winter blanket.
Beyond my tears, I rejoice
You are a refuge for my heart.
Adirondacks, are you listening?

Even when no boat floats upon it and no fish can be seen, and even if the water is as smooth as a millpond, it still has the power to draw one to it.

     The original name for the Pacific Ocean was ‘peaceful sea’ and although at times this isn’t the case, there is a certain aura of both peacefulness and power about it. It has the power to give and the power to take away.

      Below this surface that we often stare at with little thought, lay thousands of islands, volcanoes, valleys and the longest mountain range on Earth, known as The Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Indeed, another world full of mystery, a world full of life we have yet to discover.

      But we do know that the largest animal ever to have lived on this planet, lives beneath this water we love to stare at. The Blue whale, (Balaenoptera musculus) is around 30 metres in length and weighs 170 tonnes or more.  Her voice is louder than a jet and her heart is about the size of a Volkswagen beetle, how amazing is that?  

      So it is no wonder we stare at this vast amount of water that covers 70% of our planet. The sheer size of it is enough to make anyone feel in awe of it. From its gentle ripples to its tsunamis, this part of our planet will always be something to watch, to listen to, to be mindful of.  

      For me, standing at the water’s edge, drinking in the fresh salty air, allows me to think or to meditate and not think at all. If I’m sad, its endless murmur soothes me, but always, it revitalises my soul.

‘We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch-we are going back from whence we came.’

John F Kennedy