Loweswater 29th January 2010
After another pause in the swim circle’s progress, this time due to the severe weather, again we’re back on track and heading for Loweswater. The first swim of 2010. Loweswater was also the first swim of last year’s Swimming Home project and we walked to the same point where we swam across the lake and back. This time the water is barely 4C and a snowstorm is about to start. It could only be a symbolic submersion for a few minutes.
It felt good to be making progress once again. On either side of the entry point we whipped a stone from the last swim to the branch of a tree and hung painted stones above and trailing into the water. We had made a gate through which the water had been entered.
The snow, when it came, came horizontally and marked all the trees in the wood that came down to the water’s edge. The far side of the water and the surrounding hills were lost in the blizzard. After the snow ran out, the sky cleared into bright sunlight and lit the mountains for the rest of the afternoon.
We left the stones in place, wondering how they would be received by those that came across them. As we were leaving, two sullen walkers came by, avoiding eye contact with each other, perhaps after an argument. Would they see our gateway or would they walk by angrily unaware? We watched them through the trees. We saw them stop and look. Perhaps they started talking because of their discovery. Art can change perceptions and lives.
Paul
