As far as Bart Simpson goes his almost unloved dog called Santa’s Little Helper brought to mind the fact that saxophone playing Lisa would definitely get him a present.

With that inspiration I put together a few items for anyone who finds themselves a Santa’s Little Helper. There is even some for those who are a little bigger than little.

                                                                 

Technorati Tags: bag, Bart, Christmas, dog, Homer, Lisa, santa's little helper, saxophone, Simpson, t-shirt, The Simpsons

I think they call it Parkour. You know the beginning scenes of Casino Royale where James Bond is chasing a guy through a construction site – that is Parkour. Absolutely stunning to watch.

Some of these guys (no women in their group) were amazing. They just looked like some elegant creature going about it’s normal daily life – a sort of cross between gazelle and big cat.

All in a graceful, powerful rhythm.

They bounced off things, up things and held themselves in the air for ages – just gobsmacking. They were clearly confident in what they were doing, but none of them were ‘bragging’ they all said it was about sharing the love.

None of them take drugs (hooray!) as they need to keep their bodies fit – and were these bodies really, REALLY FIT!

They looked like the highest trained Olympic Gymnast with that extra something. One of the guys (Mike) said he pretty much spent his life outside – not because he didn’t have a home to go to, but because he was getting addicted to his PlayStation and his mum took it away for a while! That was about four years ago – it hasn’t been used much since. He saw an trailer on the BBC with a man running across rooftops and thought he’d give it a go.

Brilliant. It make me feel so under exercised, even though I get to dance most days of the week.

Another guy was 20 and had just become a father, days before he was leaping through a car park / parking lot. He was chuffed at his little daughter. He hopes to keep doing this, but he said the learning part of that was harder than Parkour!

I might send them one of my t-shirts for fathers day ’cause they were all so impressive and genuine. A brilliant sense of being alive.

Some of the group were planning a trip to Brazil which is apparently where this comes from. Capoeira is a ‘dance type’ martial art which most of the children get to learn. It’s probably what made Pele such a good footballer.

They often take videos of the things they do and post them online – if you get to see one do it (sorry no link yet!).

Several had clips on their mobile / cell phones which showed a few of them playing football at the beach, though the rule was no one could kick the ball with their feet on the ground.

Clothing for them is functional and either loose OR tight.

Either way round this takes as much dedication as any musical instrument, because their own body IS the instrument they play with.

Technorati Tags: BBC, beach, Brazil, Capoeira, Casino Royale, confident, dance, father, father's day, fit, football, gymnast, James Bond, love, Olympic, Parkour, Pele, PlayStation, rhythm, t-shirt

I was offline for the last couple of days thanks to my ISP having a hiccup (hiccough!) in their abilities! Still, in great and usual form I took the opportunity to enjoy life – hey, it’s what it’s here for.

As I thoroughly enjoyed my day out in the glorious sunshine, watching the waves break at the shoreline was refreshing an energizing.

Letting mother nature do it’s thing with you is a great day.

On the way back an old-timer decided to strike up a conversation with me – yes, it was started by the spaghetti t-shirt I was wearing! This man must have been in his 80’s but had that indefinable sparkle in his eyes that said he was still alive. He told me about how he and his wife met at the beach and how they would walk – or ‘promenade’ as he called it along the shoreline. Then he said how they had invented being a teenager and the joys of Rock ‘n’ Roll. He spoke to me of many of his wisdoms and let me know that he would tell his good lady everyday how beautiful she was and how in love with her he was.

I could see him delighting in telling me about this special lady and how uplifting his conversation was, she inspired him to life a better life. He showed me pictures of his five children and named them all, telling of how one was a doctor, another taught at university, another was a scientist, the fourth was a dancer and the fifth was a farmer.

Then I asked the question that caused him to be silent for a moment ‘Where is your wife now?‘. He paused and I could see tears forming in his eyes. His voice crackled a little with a moment to recover he said “I’m just going to see her now”

“If you’d like, you can come too.”

I hesitated, as I did not know this man, nor where his wife was. In that brief moment of thought you get I just decided two things:

1. This was a genuine man, who was giving of his time and sharing the story of his youth
2. I was curious to meet the lady that inspired such devotion and ask her secret

We walked a little along the beach towards a wooden building behind a hill at the far end. Apparently this was his house. It was very modest, but had an unparalleled view of the water. As we went round to the side gate he asked me if I would take any tea, to which I couldn’t really refuse.

He quietly lifted a pair of cutters from under the sink and beckoned me into the garden. There was the most amazing display of colorful flowers with gorgeous scents mixing into unique chords as you breathed in. He asked for my help in choosing some flowers, so I chose some deep red – crimson – roses. He took some grasses and made a little arrangement and divided it in two. He then made his way down the long garden and and let me know his wife had taught ‘all that she knew about flowers’.

As we came to what appeared to be the end, a little path appeared and your eye was led into the lawn area with ornate benches in cast iron. This was a lovely place I thought, but I still couldn’t see anyone else.

The old man walked over to a fountain of the most amazing blues, with a sound of gently flowing water trickling over polished stones. He paused for a moment and smiled as he picked up a dried bunch of flowers and replaced them with the ones I had chosen. He waved his had for me to come over and pointed at a black and white photograph of the young couple playing at the beach we just walked along.

“Here’s my Elizabeth. She loved this garden and would always be sitting here with afternoon tea waiting. It was here favorite spot.”

It was my turn to be speechless.

He saw I was taken aback, but continued “We would have been celebrating our 60th Anniversary on the 25th May. My children are coming back for that, they miss her too. She always made something special for everyone else when they came. She loved meeting new people – she would definitely have enjoyed meeting you.”

He handed me the other half of the flowers I helped choose and gave the most invigorating and peaceful smile

As he got the tea from the house I asked him some more questions about them and how they came to be together so long.

“I always treasured every single moment together – even the horrible ones. We used to laugh about things and could see the funny side in making our own mistakes. We often did things together, but we also had our separate times – I loved mechanics and she loved to sew, which helped us remember who we are as individuals, not just as a couple. Elizabeth had a saying for when things seemed the most dire, she would say ‘Life’s too short – enjoy the sunshine and the rain!‘”

This really struck a chord in me. I promised myself to live a fuller life after that meeting.

You never know what life will bring you, or when it will take things aways, so as my new friends wife would say:

Life’s too short – enjoy the sunshine and the rain!

Technorati Tags: 80's, beach, conversation, enjoy, fountain, garden, husband, life's too short, love, old, rain, rock'n'roll, sunshine, t-shirt, water, wave, wife, youth

Technorati Tags: clothes, design, fashion, looking good, music, t-shirt