Flotsam

I’m wrapped up in the softest Christmas blanket you ever did feel, surrounded by the pandemonium that is the festive season in the Brockway household! Not even two days back home and already we’ve had a trip to the beach and more importantly, I’ve had a paddle so feeling the need to get all cosy.

                Been off the radar for a couple of weeks while I’ve been buried deep in books and I can’t really believe that the writing has started again now I’m back in King’s Lynn of all places! One of the books I was buried in has the title Flotsam, which has now become my new favourite word.

flot·sam

/ˈflätsəm/

1.     material or refuse floating on water

2.     useless or unimportant items; odds and ends.

So today while I was walking along the beach at Hunstanton I was very aware of the flotsam amongst the seaweed and the endless piles of razor shells – which, by the way, I am slightly obsessed with walking over because the crunch is SO satisfying! Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything at all interesting – well and didn’t really look too closely to find anything anyway – but I really do love just how much there is to see at the beach. Although we often take the same walk, the coastline really changes. Every time you go things are a different colour, or the sand is a different pattern, or there are different things washed up that weren’t there the day before. Only this time last year the whale appeared, and I’ll always remember our shock that so many people had decided to go for a walk on the beach that Christmas Eve, not knowing what would greet us once we reached the sand and having the realisation that it wasn’t us being trend-setters so much as the whole whale-washed-up-on-the-beach situation!

                Today was so sunny and peaceful and we had those reeeeally long shadows, which I always love because they make me feel really tall and leggy! I began to wander out to the sea before realising quite how far out the tide actually was, but it was so worth it. The waves were really lapping the shore and it just sounded so calm. No matter what the time of year, I HAVE to go for a paddle – fear not, I was wearing wellies (so actually it probably doesn’t really count) – while my poor parents just wander along waiting for me to come back.

                As much as I like to think I’m not a huge fan of Norfolk and the idea of having no clue where I’ll be this time next year really excites me, I still love to know that this will always be home. I can’t ever imagine being too far away from the sea, and even less so the Norfolk coast!