Estos dias azules y este sol de la infancia

I need to grow old with this place fondly in my heart; it’s not easy after growing up hearing endless complaints about its changes. However, these later years of my life I have finally had the chance to experience this place for myself. As I sit by the shore I reflect back on my childhood here; memories of a place full of love, and endless sunny days when I learnt to always look into the light and engage with the world as it is. Goggles and fins on; I delve into the sea, a group of women animated in conversation around me. Although I can’t hear what they are saying, I am mesmerized by them. Wow an abalone Shell! So many wonders around me. I jump off the rocks again, into the fresh welcoming water, I chase after a little flat fish… I am free, floating and gently playing with the waves. I am at one with the sea, I am in love again, this is me, the sun, the sea, this place. “Estos días azules y este sol de infancia” were the words written on a paper found on the jacket of the Spanish poet, Antonio Machado, on the day of his death in Collioure (France), February 22, 1939.