Sailing the Ocean Blue

The sun was just beginning to set and Ted noted its position. Due East, he reckoned. 

He knew it would go down just to the right of the tall fir tree.
 Ted thought for a moment that the tree looked like the mast of a ship. He sighed and  closed his eyes. He imagined he could hear the sea breeze and feel the tingle of salt spray on his skin.
With his eyes closed, he could see the wide expanse of ocean, the lights of fishing trawlers on the horizon and maybe a dolphin or two. Then, he'd look for the evening star, his lucky star that would guide him home.

Ted sighed  again and opened his eyes. He was sitting in his garden and could see his reflection in the kitchen window. It was juxtaposed with his wife,Olive,and his daughter-in-law Judy . They were preparing a meal together. Judy's long blonde hair shone in the evening light and her turquoise dress shimmered through the glass. She could have been a mermaid.

 Love had come late in life to Ted's son Stephen. He'd travelled the world for a large oil company and then accepted early retirement, coming back to live near his ageing parents.  Ted and Olive had given up hope of becoming grandparents and then Judy had appeared, bouncing into their lives and bringing joy and laughter and exotic cooking.  After just a year Harry had arrived, the most beautiful baby boy that Ted had ever seen. The last sixteen years had been the happiest of his life.

The back door opened and his grandson ,Harry, came out bearing a tray. There were tumblers and a jug of something full of leaves and strawberries. In the middle was a large globe.

Harry filled two of the tumblers added straws and handed one to Ted .
 

'Here you are Grandpa, one of Mum's magic concoctions, don't ask what's in it.'
 

Harry held the tumbler and guided the straw into his grandfather's mouth. The old man sucked hard on the straw then relaxed and smiled at his grandson.
 

'You've found my old globe! My own grandfather gave it to me when I was a boy. I loved that globe. I'd sit for hours turning it around, slowly watching the huge stretches of blue moving away and drawing near.
It was the oceans that fascinated me.
Their beautiful names. Atlantic was my stately queen, dignified,majestic, reserved and independent. She demanded respect. I've watched her paint rosy sunsets off the coast of Iteland and create magnificent golden sunrises in Mexico.'
 

Harry laughed and gazed at his grandfather in awe.
 

'Oh wow grandpa you make the Atlantic sound like a person. Tell me about the others.'
 

Ted was aware of the intense blue of his grandson's eyes, so like his own and matching the blue of the oceans on the globe.
 

'Well,  next one along is the Indian Ocean. Sultry and exotic, full of the promise of the magic of its shores. Once, I went to the very lowest point of Africa, the tip of South Africa to a place where the Atlantic meets the Indian ocean. They reminded me of two beautiful women jealous of each others' looks. It was terrible the way they were going on. Squalls and squabbles all night long. Of course, they were each just as beautiful in their own ways. Funny, you know, you leave Africa with its elephants with big ears and then on the other side in India they've got small ones. '

Ted paused and smiled at his grandson.
 

' But, the most wonderful ocean of all dear Harry, is the Pacific. She can make men go wild. She is full of passion and beauty, exciting, magnificent, mysterious, magical. You can go for weeks without seeing land. When you land on her shores, beautiful young women throw exotic richly perfumed flowers round your neck. They entwine scented petals through your hair. Once you fall under the spell of the magnificent Pacific ocean you will be changed forever. From Japan to California and all the way down to Australia and New Zealand. You feel you could fall off the edge of the world down there.'
 

Ted put his hand out to touch the globe, it span slowly round.
 

'Look at the oceans Harry, aren't they something? Vast blue and unfathomable, home to so many creatures. Their waters lapping onto so many shores, uniting us all. The oceans are precious Harry. From space the Earth looks blue because of all that water.'

Ted stopped talking and his head slumped slightly forward.
 

'All that talking has given me a dry throat, let's have some more of your mum's drink!'
 

Harry held the straw and waited for his grandfather to finish.
He loved listening to the old man's stories. His mum said none of them were true. He just had a wonderful imagination. His grandfather had only ever been across the sea once, to a place called Dunkirk on a boat, when he was seventeen, after that he'd  never wanted to go anywhere else. He'd spent his life working  as a Coast guard in their little Cornish town.  Ted had saved so many lives and had won medals for his bravery. They were all stuffed in a draw somewhere, he never wanted to talk  about his work as a life guard.
 

The back door opened and Judy came across to sit with them, bringing along a delicious aroma of  her special Thai beef stew.

She looked at the scene before her. Her son and her father-in-law looking at each other across the globe. The brilliant blue of their eyes matching the oceans, full of deep unfathomable love reaching down through the years with the promise of something endless, eternal love. She stood up, her heart swelled, she felt as though she'd witnessed a precious moment when two lives linked together like a chain that would never be broken, her son and his grandfather united forever. So far apart in years and yet so very close.

'It's getting chilly out here now the sun's gone down. Push your grandpa in Harry and I'll serve up.'

The View from the Window

The signature music of the six-o-clock news was always a reminder that the supper should be started.
David and the live-in farm help would soon be coming in, washing off the dust from the fields and eagerly pulling up chairs to see what she had prepared.

Jan picked up the remote to turn it off, but as she glanced at the television set she stopped, riveted by the sharp contrast of the images on the screen and the view from her sitting room window.

Outside, the beautiful countryside was bathed in a golden evening glow.
 Shades of green and gold rolling like waves to the twinkling blue sea on the horizon.
 The gulls were swooping over the recently ploughed fields and calling to each other with glee at the feast they had found.
A man was walking along the footpath near the stream whistling to call his dog to heel.
A first bright evening star that she thought must be Venus was shining like a Christmas bauble that had been placed on top of the fir tree near the barn.

 A tiny crescent of moon appeared above the Bluebell wood. The last rays of the sun seemed to kiss the wild flowers in the top field and cast silver shadows across them.

The wild flower field was another idea from the EU. David got subsidies for leaving a field free to grow wild flowers.  Also the bright yellow rape seed and the maize would have been unheard of in her childhood. Jan came from farming stock and she had loved bringing her children up on the farm.

 Jan used to tell the children all sorts of stories about the little creatures that she imagined living around their farm, elves, pixies and fairies, talking hedgehogs and moles. Her children Heather and Mike would listen spellbound and beg for more, never tired of listening to her weave her tales until their eyelids grew too heavy and she would kiss them tenderly. As she left their room she always looked up at the night sky and made a wish for her family, that it would always be safe, strong and loving.

Jan looked up at the new moon and made that same wish, the one she had been making for as long as she could remember.

She looked back at the images on the television. The newscaster was talking about a desperate situation, desperate measures, desperate people. The camera zoomed in to a man strapped underneath a lorry, a group of men sitting on the grass, another group jumping on the top of a lorry. A young woman interviewed some motorists sitting in their car with worried expressions. They told her they kept the doors locked, they were afraid people might jump in their car. They looked hot and scared just like the men on the grass.

The newscaster walked over to a group of men. One of the men spoke English and he explained that he was looking for a way to help his family, he had two small children, he needed work to look after his family.  He seemed to echo the wish that Jan made as she looked at the moon.

Jan took out the casserole she had made that afternoon and put it in the oven, then she prepared the vegetables from her garden and laid the table.  She put a vase of sweet
peas in the centre of the table and cut thick slices of her homemade bread.

The news had changed now and there was talk of the  referendum about the EU. Jan sighed heavily. When she had met David  at a Young Farmers dance he had had a sticker on his car saying 'Farmers say No'. That was back in the seventies. That time the Referendum was whether to join the EU.  Back then it was called 'The Common Market' .
 

Jan switched the television off and went to look at her computer to see if either of her children were on Skype. Heather was in Australia doing work experience as a Physiotherapist. They spoke to each other  every day and it did help a bit but Jan was still counting the days until Heather came home.
 

Mike was studying at the nearby Agricultural college.  He was full of ideas to improve food production in a healthy way for both people and the environment. Mike had inherited his father's love of the land and right from the age of seven had had a stall selling produce from his own little vegetable patch. Mike was spending the Summer in Hungary working on a project called WOOF, nothing to do with dogs but an organization promoting world organic food .
 

A stamping of feet and happy chatter heralded the arrival of the men and Jan went to serve up their meal. They practically pounced on the rich delicious casserole and creamy mashed potato.

It was later as she was dishing up generous portions of Apple Crumble and clotted cream that Jan noticed that Piotr, the new Polish worker was quieter than usual and kept checking his phone.
 

' Everything alright Piotr? Any news from home''
 

 She laid her hand on his shoulder.

Piotr looked up. His eyes looked unnaturally bright.

'My grandfather is very unwell and my mother wants me to go home. I know this is a difficult time for you with the farm work and I don't know what to do.'

David reached across the table and handed Piotr another helping of the Apple crumble.

'Tell you what Piotr, there are storms forecast for later in the week. What do you say that we work through the night and get the fields ready, then you can get one of those cheap flights that young people know all about. Oh and tell your grandfather that he's got a wonderful grandson.'

With that, David picked up his spoon and carried on eating. Piotr gave him a broad smile and then tapped away on his phone.

Jan fought back tears. Her heart swelled with love for her husband. He worked so hard and never said much, but when he did his words seemed to her to be pure gold.

In the dying dusk Jan looked out across the fields. She'd cleared away and given the men flasks of coffee laced with a dash of brandy to keep them going through the night and chunks of her best fruit cake. She could see the lights of the tractors moving steadily around the fields. The new moon lit up the hedgerows. She could even make out the lights of the fishing boats on the distant sea.
 Jan thought of her daughter in Australia, her son in Hungary, Piotr longing to hold his grandfather one last time, the desperate people trying to cross the sea, the way the world seemed so small in the shadow of the vast sky above it and how the view held so much history. Just by looking at the view she could tell so many stories of the past, not just her own people but from around the world.

David had told her that his maternal grandmother Blanche had stood at that window watching her handsome young husband, his grandfather Archie march away in his smart new uniform, to come back a different man, a broken man haunted by terrible dreams for the rest of his life.
 His other grandfather Arthur had stayed behind to look after the farm always considered an essential duty.
 David's mother had stood watching the sea hoping that her husband would return safely from every dangerous mission to keep invaders from their shores. He did come back and was treated as a hero. David remembered him doing a victory roll in his Spitfire on one of the major anniversaries of the battle of Britain diving and swooping over the fields of his home to the delight of all the local children.
 The farm had been kept going again  by  David's grandfather Arthur, helped by young women from London and from Italian and Polish workers.
Afterwards everyone thought that that would be that, everyone could get back to business, enjoying a sort of peaceful unity at last.

 The world though seemed to Jan like the fields before her, forever changing, producing different crops and different challenges, some good some not so good.
 She remembered a saying from her French class at school by Proust that had stuck in her mind. Something about the real journey being the way you look at something.

The voyage of discovery is not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes.

 She thought again of the main items on the News, of the view in front of her. We have to keep on looking at the world with new eyes so we can do our bit to make it a better place for everyone.

In the early hours of the morning David crawled into bed. She could feel his weariness as he settled down next to her. She stroked his cheek and snuggled up against him, then her voice no more than a whisper moved towards his ear.

'That was so kind of you David, we can ask my nephew Brian to help until Piotr comes back, He's always happy to be with you. Everyone is.'

David sighed and turned towards her.

'My grandfather always told me there are three things that a human being has to learn to do. Eat properly and get along with other people.'

He shut his eyes and rolled over.

Jan touched him on the shoulder,

'That's only two, what's the third one?'

David's voice came husky and low.

'Get a good night's sleep.'