It was lovely lying in bed the last two nights listening to the rain. Sometimes it was gentle, barely audible, just rustling the leaves of the big plants around my bedroom window and others is was loudly hurling itself against the roof in a furious tattoo. Either way, it was very welcome as in the twelve years I’ve been coming here I can’t remember ever seeing Antigua look so dry. The ‘lawn’ in the garden was so hard there were cracks in places and some of my lovely plants and flowers were beginning to look quite sorry for themselves.
So, having a few heavenly showers was a good thing all round. Especially on Tuesday afternoon. It didn’t rain over Avocado Cottage then, but as I stepped out through the patio door onto the verandah, I was greeted with the unexpected sight of a rainbow! Hooray! I absolutely LOVE rainbows. When I was a child I always thought they were magical and mysterious. Now as an adult, I’ve always taken them as a spiritual sign from the Universe to me to confirm that all will be well. And that’s always a comfort, isn’t it?
My Unexpected Rainbow
My stay here is winding towards its end. I don’t know how ‘three weeks and two days’ have suddenly become ‘four more full days and then I leave on Monday’. But it’s been time well spent. Our production meeting for Maisie and Em brought us on leaps and bounds and we are all very excited about it, especially as the dates for filming some more episodes have been agreed. I have a couple more catch-ups with people, a day out on a boat, and then I’ll be packing up. 🙁
That said, it will be lovely to actually see The Daughter in person and not through the hazy, staccato images of Skype from Thailand to Antigua or a phone call. I can’t wait for our catch-up lunch next week.
One thing I’m not looking forward to is the election. I’ve stopped looking at Facebook most of the time – tired already of the bigoted, blinded posts by supporters of all the main parties. Suddenly, everyone’s a political commentator. If you’re persuaded not to vote for him by watching a video of Ed Miliband trying to eat a burger or not to vote Conservative by being shown some made up figures scaremongering about the NHS then I feel sorry for you. Far too many people vote for whoever their parents always voted for or because of their own roots and background. These people will never change so a share on Facebook isn’t going to do any good. How many people could actually tell you what’s in their party of choice’s manifesto? How many of the Great British Public voted for Clegg in the last election because he came over well on TV? And look how that all turned out…….. Getting involved with politics is a carousel to nowhere – you’re on a hiding to nothing. As Dad once said to me: “It doesn’t matter who you vote for the Government always gets in”. While the News is on my TV will remain well and truly OFF!
And now, I will step off my soapbox as Holiday Reads 2 beckons………….. Back to the writing!
