Ponderings from the Polytunnel

Where’s Wally?

I know he’s not supposed to be easy to find. In fact, he really isn’t supposed to found at all. At least not in the UK. No, not our bespectacled friend in a woolly hat and scarf. I’m talking about that moustached, marine gentleman in flippers.

Wally, the juvenile arctic Walrus was first seen in Ireland. It’s believed he drifted across the North Atlantic Ocean from Greenland after falling asleep on an ice floe – as you do! From Ireland he swam to Tenby, in South Wales and has found an ideal spot for a ‘staycation’. He’s become a bit of a celebrity and, in true celebrity fashion, he had a diva moment – disappearing from the public glare for a few days over the Easter period. No-one knows where he went but he’s returned in good health and has even gained weight. He apparently spends his day simply resting, eating and sleeping – a man after my own heart! A walrus can live up to 40 years in the wild, weigh up to a tonne, and their 4cm thick layer of skin and fat helps them withstand freezing temperatures as low as minus 35°C. They are sensitive but resilient creatures and you wouldn’t want to pick a fight with one!

• 

Life can be a bit like Wally’s accidental adventure. One minute you’re happily drifting along on your iceberg and the next you find yourself in a strange and distant land, far removed from what you had expected or intended.  Life interrupts your plans. Sometimes the interruption is ridiculously difficult and painful, sometimes it’s pleasant – even wonderful. Like Wally, we have to adapt and settle into the new environment we find ourselves in. That can be exhausting. I think Wally’s idea of getting away from it for a while was a good one. Even when we can’t physically remove ourselves, we can immerse in the things that make us smile, even if only for several minutes.  And just like Wally does; keeping to our routine will bring us familiarity and comfort as we learn to navigate the new waters.

Good on you Wally. You’re welcome here. I’m going to take a leaf out of your book now – off to sit in the garden with a cuppa and a slice of naughtiness, while I listen to the birds make their music. Feel free to stay as long as you need to. Sometimes, when your ice floe has deposited you somewhere you didn’t expect, it takes a little time to figure out what your next move should be!