Alive

Reisen seems a bit better today. Still had a disturbed night though. Finally gave up trying to sleep at around 6am. He seemed brighter so I took him for a walk. He was eager to go out. We wandered down to Countess Wear, right on the edge of the city. Yes that is how it's spelt. The weir was built in 1285 by the then Countess of Devon and named for her and they couldn't spell back then. She did it to deliberately block the River Exe so that ships couldn't get into the city any longer but would be forced to unload on her dock at Topsham (and so pay duty to her). The plan worked quite well until one of the Courtney family (who are still the Earls of Devon) upset King Henry VIII in the early 1500s and lost the right to the land the weir was built on. The City Council took the opportunity (in 1563) to bypass the river by building a canal parallel to it.

There's a huge swing bridge over both the river and the canal these days. And a lovely walk along the banks into the countryside. I took him there. I could tell he still wasn't 100% because he made no attempt to leap into the river. (I was ready to stop him, just in case). He's a retriever, when he's well he's incapable of passing dirty or muddy water without submerging himself in it.

It was close to 8am and the sun was just coming up - which it does from the direction along the estuary and up the river at this time of year. There was a heavy hoar-frost still on the ground, (it was somewhere around minus 3c) leaving it white and crisp and sparkling. The trees were bare of leaves and stood bleak and dark. The river looked grey and half frozen, as did the canal. The ducks were sitting in melancholy silence, on the ice, not yet fully awake. The sun was big and red and clear in the way it is in winter, its warmth just making the frost turn to mist along the ground. There wasn't another soul in sight.

It was heart-breakingly beautiful. Stark and bleak and silent and breath-taking.

I wished I'd had a camera. I wished I hadn't been stupid enough to go out without my mobile. I felt so very glad to be alive. And so very grateful for that moment.

So here's wishing that you are all lucky enough to feel glad to be alive right now. And I hope that Father Christmas, or Santa Claus (no they're not the same), or Father Frost, or The Christ Child, or Sinterklaas, or St Nicholas or whoever your local figure is, brings you good stuff for Christmas (or Epiphany if you're Spanish, Greek, or other Orthodox).

Merry Christmas, goodnight, and may your God/s go with you.

Ze

BtVS

• Chapter 7 of Unexpected by gotlemons (BuffynFaith.Net).
  
  Criminal Minds
  
• Snapshots by wingsfan (ShatterStorm Productions).
  
  CSI:Miami
  
• Part 16D of Choices by sinjenkai (Women in Kevlar).
  
  Final Fantasy VII
  
• Cold Silence by Shireheart (Saffic).
  
  Gossip Girl
  
• Thorns Entwining Our Hearts by shyath (Passion & Perfection).
  
  Original
  
• Chapter 5.15 of Flowers of Edo by Nene Adams (Her website).
  
  Stargate SG-1
  
• Moving On (Part 9 of A Love Too Strong To Break) by Arcturus (Area 52).
  
  
• Releasing Command by Arcturus (Area 52).
  
  Wes Craven's Dracula II&III / Angel: the Series Crossover
  
• Goodbye is for the Birds by sHaYcH (ShatterStorm Productions).
  
  (The) West Wing
  
• Summer in California by Cj (ShatterStorm Productions).
  
  Xena Warrior Princess
  
• Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold (Mel/Janice) by By Cap'n Cat (Royal Academy of Bards).
  
  
• I'll Have A Blue Solstice Without You by Del Robertson (Passion & Perfection).