A time ago the teacher took me to an eco house very far up north. He lived with the hippies who built it when he first came to Scotland and it was there that he fell in love with Scotland and decided to come back and make it his home.
We hadn't been together more than 6 months at this point and I'd been having the sort of thoughts people tend to have when they are in a new relationship. Thoughts about Big Things like compatibility and commitment and the future. Thoughts about and Big Things make me very anxious and so the knot in my stomach wasn't just nerves at meeting the people my boyfriend regarded as second parents.
One day the teacher announced that he was taking me somewhere special and drove me even further north through the tiny windy rural roads. We arrived here*
We stood here in silent awe for a few minutes then I ran like an excited puppy right into the sea. Fully clothed. It was cold. Very cold. Kill a man dead in 15 minutes kind of cold. Then the teacher took off his clothes and came in too. We played in the sea for approximately 3 minutes until my circulation started to shut down; the walk back up to the car was painful and difficult so it wasn't until we were back in the car eating biscuits that I realised the knot in my stomach was gone. This boy knew me well and loved me too; things were going to be ok.
When we got back to the hippie house we remembered that it was Valentine's day. Neither of us had a card to give but we had shared so much more. We still don't acknowledge Valentine's day because that day my legs went yellow gave us so much more than any tacky, commercial hearts and flowers ever could have.
Happy V day petals. Hope you love yourselves today, tomorrow and next Tuesday.
*I know my crappy phone pics don't really do it justice but use your imagination.
