Notes from the Spring Creek Arts Guild

  • Notes from the Spring Creek Arts Guild
    Notes from the Spring Creek Arts Guild
  • A Walk in the Park Wounded prisoners of war were brought to the Netley Hospital near Southampton, England for treatment. Some of them died without anyone knowing their names or much else about them. I saw several headstones like this in the military cemetery in the Royal Victoria Country Park, where the hospital was located. The inscription means “A German Soldier.” He died on November 11, 1914.
    A Walk in the Park Wounded prisoners of war were brought to the Netley Hospital near Southampton, England for treatment. Some of them died without anyone knowing their names or much else about them. I saw several headstones like this in the military cemetery in the Royal Victoria Country Park, where the hospital was located. The inscription means “A German Soldier.” He died on November 11, 1914.

A few years ago, I made a new online friend named Lesley, who lives in Southampton, England. I cannot remember exactly how we “met,” but it was related to sewing, knitting, or quilting, I am sure. Right away, I started thinking that we must somehow be distantly related as we are so much alike. She has two dogs, Merlin and Willow, who regularly go for walks with her and much of her posting is photos of what she experiences on these walks. One of their favorite walks is through the Royal Victoria Country Park, which borders on Southampton Water, a tidal estuary.

When we started planning a graduation trip to Scotland for my son and now daughter-in-law, I started plotting how I could meet Lesley, Merlin, and Willow and go on one of those beautiful walks. My son graduated Spring of 2020, so you can surmise that the trip was put on hold. Finally, last month, we were able to take the long-planned trip, although current circumstances required that it be cut in half time-wise. But with careful planning, I was still able to get to Southampton to spend one day with Lesley.

She came to pick me up at the train station and, as I suspected, it was like meeting up with a lifelong friend. We started right in talking as if we had years of catching up to do, and I suppose we did. We went to her home where I met her husband and the dogs, and I delivered a gift of San Saba pecans—explaining their significance, of course. Then we set off for our walk, driving to the park via a scenic route with Lesley explaining everything we saw. She is an excellent tour guide. The park was initially pretty crowded as it was Father’s Day, but we soon walked back into the woods, which we had to ourselves. Merlin immediately found a pine cone which we used to play fetch until he found a tennis ball, instead. Willow does not play silly games such as this but is content to walk along, sniffing everything along the path.

Next, we took the dogs home, then set out to the other side of the estuary to the New Forest National Park. We drove through the major features of the New Forest, including the heathlands and the woodlands, with Lesley explaining the history and all the work being done to preserve and restore native species. The New Forest has had “rights of common pasture” since the 1600s, so ponies and cattle roam freely, even in and around the villages. We worked our way to Lymington, where we did some window shopping—most businesses there are closed on Sunday the way it used to be here—and had lunch in a Cornish Pasty shop. Next we drove on down to Milford-on-Sea where we walked along the shore, watched the people and dogs playing in the water and had some ice cream for dessert. The day was clear and sunny, so we could see the Needles Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight across the water. After a cup of coffee back at Lesley’s house, she took me back to the train station so I could travel up to London to meet up with my family again.

The excursion down to Southampton satisfied my desire to see and experience Lesley’s walks for myself, but I am afraid it also gave me just a peek into some things I want to learn much more about. Now I am plotting how I can go back and spend a big chunk of time wandering around Southampton, The New Forest, and on down through Cornwall. And I am hoping someday Lesley can come here and enjoy a ranch walk and sitting on the front porch with the hummingbirds buzzing around our heads—while eating some of those Honey Toasted Pecans, which she says are her new favorite thing. SpringCreek-ArtsGuild@gmail.com