Turning 50

 Back at Chirk Marina, 'staff' took control of our dear Caitlin and motored her into place. She was home again. We were homeless. We cleaned up and set off in the rental car to explore northern Wales I had my trusty map with highlighted highlights and my phone plugged in with Google Maps open. 

In Holywell (the Lourdes of Wales) we visited the holy well of course. St Winifride's Well was a place that for centuries, people have pilgrimaged to, to dip into the healing waters. Actually, you dip THREE times because those enthusiastic Catholics believe that sometimes it takes not once, not twice but three dunkings to get a miracle healing.  Crutches that have been found discarded at the site of the spring are the only real evidence of legs that can walk again and they are now part of the museum/gift shop on the property.

At said museum we got the real scoop. I mean it was a more thorough version than Wikipedia and honestly was refreshingly open minded about the legend of St Winifred too. Essentially the girl was gunning to be a nun and was in training under the watchful eye of Beuno, a local Abbot, who built the church. Some nobleman's spoiled, entitled and lustful son took a fancy to her but she rejected him. He lost all control and tried to rape her. He cut off her head....or mostly cut off her head?

Beuno, with a reputation for healing the mentally sick, reportedly found Winifride and healed her. This interpretation implies she was likely mostly dead with a serious neck wound and enough trauma to cause dissociation that could be viewed as not really being alive anymore.  Winifride then became famous for defending her chastity AND (coincidentally) for the spring that now existed on the site of her near death experience. Her brother killed the attacker and that was the end of him, FYI.

There are two "Life Book"s - written accounts of Winifrida's well. Essentially the story was passed verbally for 500 years then two versions came into written existence about 1000 years ago. From Vita Prima, chapter 25 comes this quote, which I quite liked:

"Human suffering of every kind was sure of obtaining the compassionate aid of this gentle virgin, when sought with faith"

We dipped 3x into the pool beside the spring. Knee-deep only - the gal at the gift store said that would be enough. And to be fair, it was darn cold! I had no wishes or prayers to be answered, wounds to heal. I'm not sure why I dipped, except that I was there, the story is a compelling one and really, what did I have to lose?!

From Holywell, we headed west following a coastal route. Mark had mastered those tiny, one lane streets where parking is permitted anywhere from all over the sidewalk to the middle of the road and we now understood there was no consistent rule or much personal responsibility in regard to speed in tight spaces. It was kinda liberating. 

Conwy Castle made my list because... YouTube. Some influencer had gotten to me once again. We spent a couple of hours here on a sunny and very hot day and I put away the world's largest custard square (vanilla slice) and called it 'birthday cake'. This town was mighty cute and I felt like I had been here before. 

The South Stack Lighthouse is located out there on the tip (island off of the island) of Anglesey at Holyhead. I had been advised by (you guessed it...) YouTubers, to get there for sunset. We did, kinda. I mean it was super overcast, blowing a gale and trying to rain, but somewhere out there the sun was dipping below the horizon near Ireland as we battled Mother Nature down 300+ steps while dressed head to toe in Goretex!

I took hundreds of pictures of seabirds (guillemots) and wildflowers that defy reason to live here, and of course, of the lighthouse. As we visited, the lighthouse turned on and the fog horn started. Magical! We literally staggered back up as darkness and rain settled in a bit more and we went in search of somewhere to stay. 

That's when Lastre Farm Stay came into play. What a find! They upgraded our room AND squeezed us into the dining room for dinner despite being pretty booked up. The food was farm-to-table great and I got my wish for fresh and salady. 

I ate shrimp and crab for my birthday dinner, shaved my legs (file that under self care) and had a tiny bit of energy left to download the days photos to my computer before calling it a night. 50 was treating me ok so far. 

It's Meeeeee - The first 50 years!

It seems only fitting that as my 50th birthday arrives, I take some time to reflect on how I spent time in the first half of my life. (Nothing wrong with being an optimist!)

This not a eulogy though... I have no plans to give you the run down on who I'm related to, the towns I've lived in, where I went to school and what my life achievements have been.

What makes me happy is the visual story. Color, shape, patterns, contrast and reflections. Images that depict how I have experienced my world, those that trigger memories, record events and the souls that have touched my life. 

This slideshow captures some of the many moments that have made me smile and to this day, bring a feeling of gratitude, remind me of my good fortune and privilege. 

Come... Meet the people, view the places and of course animals, that have molded Dallice the little girl, into 50 year old me. 

*Note :  Owing to my extraordinary life so far and my inability to edit like a normal person, this is NOT a short video. Use the bathroom and grab a snack before we start. Heck feel free to multi-task... it's not like there will be a quiz at the end!

I have ambitious plans of living the next 5 decades in much the same way - sans the youthful glow and forgiving body of course. (Actually I'm beautifully ok with my crows feet, grey hair and dancing tricep skin. I've earned them honestly... except the jiggly arms, which I truly thought I could put off longer.)

Life is grand!

Return to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

 Before breakfast and almost anything else, there was the small matter of turning the ship around - literally.

We found the Llangollen Marina was the place to be and in front of 15 other narrowboats and a duckling, of course, Mark performed beautifully.  Then came my much anticipated hair wash (the engine had warmed the water by then) and finally, breakfast in the village - complete with scone and jam.

I guess I thought (hoped) I'd be driving through "the narrows" on the way back while Mark walked it but in the end we found ourselves suddenly narrowing and with no idea if anyone was oncoming, I just needed to quickly head downstream and report back. Both of these things being more my wheelhouse than Marks and at this point him being the more experienced and confident captain, it just happened that I missed my chance... and I don't think Cap'n Mark was too sad about this. 

He is referring to himself at Pilot In Command or PIC and seems to believe his role now offers a greater breadth of authority than Captain of a narrowboat on the Llangollen Canal really should! And now that find my authority limited to the galley, I realize mistakes were made when I listed Mark as our captain on the booking form. Equality is an uphill battle that never seems to end. Ask any woman!

Anyway, I took us the rest of the way to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and then Mark took his turn driving over it today. It was busy and the sun was high. 

We moored and spent some time on foot for the afternoon. It was warm but mostly cloudy and humid. Hot when the sun peaked out though. Wales was really turning it on for us!

Tomorrow is my 50th birthday - it's already my birthday in NZ, in fact. I'm feeling super grateful that I'm not afraid to treat myself, celebrate myself, cherish myself. I'm "half way" and this one does feel special. I've made no secret of that.  As I circle the sun again this year I'm promising to work on not comparing myself to others and how they might or might not choose to celebrate me too. It simply doesn't serve me.