Present Moment Awareness….How noticing can make all the difference.

How a Sea Slater Inspired Me

Waiting for someone who is late  can be frustrating, here I was on the East pier May 5 th Dunlaoire with the sun beating down, annoyed to have been stood up again, with others chatting and  heading off, breathing In the crisp salty air.

I was also downcast as I had  just heard of the passing of Angela Jupe who I had worked for and known for 30 years since the Garden Furnishing Company in Leeson Street  Dublin.

Just 2 weeks before she had sent a testimonial  for my new website for which I was very grateful.

Angela had many friends in the RHSI,  designed  so many gardens and had restored her own walled garden in Shinrone into a  place of magnificent beauty, even though she struggled with arthritis for years, and getting anywhere was a struggle.

And here was I stuck waiting yet again with nothing to do but focus on the young seedlings growing in sand  between the granite wall and path.I   remembered hearing that foreign plants often grow here  brought in by wind and tide, and then saw a dark grey mottled sea slater emerge all covered in debris  moving left and right finding his way.

After a little while he set off from  where I stood  across a gravelly  cobble-locked path  in the direction of the sea and I  grew curious about where he was going and why.

These creatures who resemble wood lice in heavy armor are millions of years old, and  emerged from the sea  to live on land. I know they carry their young slung under their belly and have a tough outer skeleton but little else. What was he feeling this bright sunny morning ?

I saw this creature’s  wonderful antennae waving about gathering  information about the terrain and also his clever way of using the hollow part of the cobble lock to hide in when traffic approached.

 I am fascinated to think that in a tiny space within this creature’s brain he can know how to avoid being flattened by a four wheel off road vehicle, and the heels of many joggers and  dog walkers

He  continued on his journey, and I  am left in awe, promising myself to find out all about this wonderful being  on my return home…..and what I need to learn  about life, struggles and becoming.