Knowing (1)

Last October I decided to drive South to visit a small lighthouse in Berwick, the first major town as you cross the border from Scotland to England on the East Coast.

 

It was a cold day, but an open sky and the sun was shining freely everywhere, lighting up the seaside of Berwick beautifully.

 

As I was approaching the lighthouse I saw an elderly man sitting on a bench on the pier, overlooking the vast stretch of the coast in front of him, he had a very peaceful aura about him, just sitting there, closing his eyes, smiling.

 

I started to wonder, what could be on his mind just now... Is he thinking of his family, a nostalgic memory, maybe something mundane, or is he perhaps free of all thoughts, and just simply being there in the moment, letting in the warmth of the sun and breathing in the fresh air of the sea?

 

I remember my Grandad used to sit in his garden chair like this, I was watching him when I was a child and I knew he wasn't sleeping either. I used to wonder what was on his mind at the time, but I never got round to ask him. I was too busy being a child.

 

Soon the gentleman stood up and walked slowly to the lighthouse, looked out to the open sea, and then started to walk back to the bench. That's when I decided that I am going to speak with him.

 

When I asked him if I can take a portrait picture of him, he smiled at me with warmth and kindness, and then answered to me politely each time I asked him a question.

 

After a few clicks and small questions I wished him a nice day and we both said goodbye, and that's when I realised I never asked him what was he thinking on that bench...

 

I was too busy again.

 

And maybe that's ok. Maybe he would have been opened to share, maybe he wouldn't. His thoughts remained private for him and a mystery to everyone else, just like my Grandads.

Done