Sometimes it’s worth taking the time to turn round and see what’s behind you.

A few years back I was driving back home late at night. As a I was feeling tired I pulled over on a country lane and looked south at the beautiful starlight view. Feeling happy with myself I got back into the car. The next day the local news was full of videos of that nights stunning Northern Lights show. If I had just turned round I just might have seen one of the natural worlds greatest sights. Its a big deal here as we rarely get to see them. I still haven’t seen them. Just turn round…

Today I spent two hours ransacking the work base for one box. Not a sign of it. Then I turned round. Yep suddenly it was right in front of me. If only I had turned round sooner. With the box in hand I set off back home. If I had turned round as I left the office I would have seen my wallet and house keys on the desk. I then would have not got virtually back home before I realised that I had to turn round and go back to work.

I remember a Saturday afternoon visiting my partners bedside in the hospice. When I left the room something inside of me told me to turn round and spend some more time with her. I decided to go and pick my son up from relatives. I often think that I should have turned round as she died just a few hours later. Other times I think I probably made the right call. Son needed me. That’s probably an excusable failure to turn round.

Doncaster Wildlife Park is our zoo of choice. It’s a new park so the animals seem to be given space. It’s normally a good sign that due to the space and quality of the habitat that there is no guarantee that you will see all the animals. Some places (often the older sites) you visit are deeply depressing. Here it often doesn’t feel like a zoo as you walk round it. That’s probably why son likes it so much. Space for the animals, space for the humans.

The Wildlife Park also has a claim to fame. It’s the only place I have ever seen a snake in the wild. It was on a path at the edge of the Park – chomping on an unfortunate frog.

The irony. In my whole life the only snake I’ve seen in the wild was in a zoo which doesn’t have any snakes.

The Wildlife Park has one often overlooked attraction. As the visitors stand and look for the tigers a few people turn round. They look in the opposite direction. Across to the wetlands. It’s a stunning view. Yet so many miss it. What a waste.

Sometimes just turn round.

54 thoughts on “Just turn round”

  2. Sometimes life doesn’t want us to turn around. I believe your partner wanted it that way. She didn’t want you there to see her pass. So don’t think with the should of’s it was meant to be this way. Now on another note, I believe there is something we should turn around for. It’s just hard to know when. one of life many mysteries.💕

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. that was an awesome and meaningful post. Yes, we need to turn around more often in life.I often recall the story on the bible though about Lot’s wife, as well as the mythology of Persephone/ Hades…two cases where turning around was not so good. I guess its tough to choose sometimes and other times its a matter of just forgetting to do so. Either way, i love the sentiment here:)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. We’re still flying kites here. You haven’t lived til you’ve heard Let’s Go Fly A Kite sung in screamo death metal fashion😂

        We did the Hero song when he was stuck on one of the Shrek movies. It’s not the worst song…anything on repeat makes me feel like a tea pot getting ready to boil and BOOM! there goes the whistle😱🤦‍♀️

        Like

  13. So very true. My husband is terminally ill with cancer. It has taught me that nothing really matters- credit card bills used to send a shudder through me and make me panic, now, not so much. I also take my time- if we are late, we are late. Slow down, turn around. Love it, so true.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Well, I’m not surprised. Things you’ve said that your son said in the past have always seemed so sensible … wise beyond his years. And … he has a pretty smart dad to learn from! Yes, my friend, we need a bit of peace. It seems unlikely we will get it anytime soon, though. Sigh.

        Liked by 1 person

  17. That frog may have not been the snake’s meal if it had just turned around…

    Excellent reminder to not only turn around, but be aware of the beauty that surrounds us. I remember watching a sunset in Key West with a large crowd of people. As soon as the sun set, most people clapped and wandered away. They obviously didn’t know that the best part of a sunset happens a few moments after the sun dips below the horizon. The sunset that followed – one that most people missed – was blazingly glorious. I was so happy that I didn’t turn around and walk away.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. I leave for work just as the sun rises. Unfortunately I walk in the opposite direction to it and more often than not I’m running late. I often forget to turn around and see the candy floss colours behind me. I’m going to try and remember to turn around and take it in, thanks 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s