Meditations and Ministers

Posted on August 12th, 2007 filed in Photos, Politics, Wales, Welsh Assembly

We took the charabanc to the West Wales coast for the annual August pilgrimage this week. After a miserable June and July and a heart-breaking summer harvest, a spell of sunshine gave us precious time to ’stand and stare’ and re-charge our batteries whilst enjoying the Welsh countryside.

On Wednesday the sky was cloudless and the beaches of Cardigan Bay filled with holidaymakers, sunseekers, the sea-sports people, and families from near and far. As the hot sands teased our toes, we joined them for a refreshing dip in the serene Ceredigion sea. It was clear that day and below you could survey the wonders of the sea-floor. Above the aircraft scribbled ugly white trails against a pristine azure canvas.

We swam like a paddling of ducks who had been deprived of water for far far too long. We splashed each other and our selves. We dived deep and touched the floor, grabbing a handful of sand and coming to the surface to hold our prize ‘pearls’ aloft. We kicked and danced, bobbed and gyrated.

We held our heads under the water and listened to the strange hypnotic humming of the sea. We teased and laughed at each other as we made wild claims about crabs biting toes, octopuses ogling legs, squids and that mythical creature, the great white Cardigan Bay shark.

As we meditated on our uplifting surroundings and the creatures that inhabit the seas, we noticed Rhodri Morgan, the Welsh Assembly First Minister, and his wife Julie Morgan, the Cardiff MP, swim past us. They swam with grace at ease with themselves and the other swimmers enjoying the unusually calm Welsh sea. The Morgans swam far out to the deep and swam several times that afternoon.

Given a choice between spending time gnawing the proverbial bones of a dead culture in Mold, North Wales, or enjoying what nature has to offer in West Wales, he has clearly made a wise choice. Yes, he definitely swims in a circle. He swam with vigour, encircling the beach as if tracing the contours of the Welsh landscape as an act of appreciation.

* Some photos and video of the Two Legged Minister Swimming in a Circle on YouTube.