Post 12/2024 Carbis Bay St Ives Cornwall England. With wet, windy weather walloping wellbeing, wistful wayfarers warily wait warmth-waxing wattage waylaying witless waning wintry woes with welcoming whoopee.

And in the bargain learning more about The Green Door in St Ives.

Wistful. Wary. Whoopee. Expectantly we anticipate brighter days; yet challenges remain, such as two million potholes needing repair across England’s roads in 2024.

Key question: What can I do to slow down accelerating climate change? How can I curb my optimism bias and still stay positive, hopeful, mindful, helpful, caring?

Some thoughts:

Out of doors

Things I think about on our walks include the healing power of nature, such as male birds singing to mark their territory with the likes of “This is my tree, my bush,” eventually, “My nest, my mate, stay away.” Engaging interplay of melodies and more. The English blackbird is especially fun to listen to.

In the open air I see the regeneration of plant life, feel the effects of both spray and sun, breathe spring scents. I try to imagine the people who walked these paths over the centuries and millennia: prehistoric peoples, miners, military, missionaries, door-to-door peddlers, pilgrims, scallywags and others. Today ramblers and saunters.

As the days warm, I imagine pausing more along the path, embracing a more reflective pace, enjoying a picnic. Coming home tired, refreshed, reinvigorated.

Doors

This week, with friends Noel and Lynne, we visited our 96-year-old friend Monica and her son, retired vicar Gorran Chapman, in Redruth. Friendship opens reciprocal doors of liking and caring and camaraderie that intimately shape and prosper our lives. Monica has been a gracious and welcoming host during our time in Cornwall–Noel and Lynn and others, too–, as is Gorran, who served tea and cake and took us on a walk around the expansive garden.

Doors and The Green Door

The function of hinged or sliding panels for closing the entrance to a building or room we pretty much take for granted. I half remember an account about a church where during construction people had to climb in through a window. That would be the exception. Doors are the thing for entry and egress.

There was the day that door-to-door was in vogue. Canvassing, sales, marketing, evangelism, campaigning. Years ago I canvassed a few neighborhoods in Elkhart, Indiana to get external details for a historic houses register. Some homeowners invited me in to see special structural features. Glad it was then and not now.

Marty recalls the popular song, Green Door, music by Bob Davie, lyrics by Marvin Moore. Recorded by Jim Lowe, number one on the US chart in 1956. Also performed by Frankie Vaughan and others. Lyrics include, “Wish they’d let me in so I could find out what’s behind the green door (Green door) . . .” Whether it’s a speakeasy in Kansas where you need the right password or national secrets available only to vetted individuals, the intrigue of name The Green Door captures the imagination.

An old door, The Green Door, in St Ives now goes beyond the purpose of doors. It would still easily open, except that it is blocked by a piano in the living room. Jen and James Forbes, owners of the home and the adjacent St Ives Bakery on the corner of Fore Street and The Digey, created another entrance, saving the 200-plus-year-old door for posterity.

The couple turned down an offer from Tate St Ives to buy the door for their gallery, instead having it listed with only minor modifications now allowed. Check out stories online. One account is at http://www.stivesbythesea.com

We bought a loaf of crusty rye bread at St Ives Bakery–after finding the green door. Perfect with leftover cabbage soup.

There you have it. Wistful wayfarers, out of doors, plain doors, and The Green Door. Next, a few more pictures.

The week in brief

Getting out this week included a variety of local rambles as well as one Truro to Malpas that ended with Evensong at the Cathedral.

Shine, smile, sing, shake a leg. Open a door. Explore. Care. Love.

-John