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| Upside down photography credit: PetaPixel.com |
The Pinetum is on the edge of Kent near Hedgebury. I remember visiting it a few times with my Strood grandparents. On one occasion Peter and I joined our young uncles, Dave and Adrian, for an adventure and a picnic. We set up camp by a brick header-tank which fed a small stream.
The thin-walled dam provide an inviting vantage point to examine the deep water for something yet invisible. I tried to push past David to get to the waterfall, where the excess water over-topped the barrier to plunge into the stream. Predictably I lost my balance and fell headlong into the water.
This was an amazing and unforgettable experience.
In an istastance I was transported into another world. Sound switch off. Bright light shone beneath my feet. and large bubbles of air gently meandering downwards.
Time stood still, I felt peaceful, mesmerised; in another state.
David reached down and grabbed the protruding ankle of the small nephew. He pulled me up out of the water like an exhibit. The world returned to its regular form. I felt an intense sense of being cold, and then fear followed. I was wrapped in the picnic blanket along with muted concern. Next I remember the warm bath back in Strood, with the familiar objects about me. The plastic soap holder full of the remnants of old soap cakes, confusingly rough to the skin.
And my uncle, quietly but profoundly present in my life. Now deceased. Rest in Peace, in that other world.
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