AnElephantCant is no longer travelling
He is happily back home in France
But one thing he knows
Wherever he goes
He visits his best friend when he gets half a chance

AnElephant once again launches a one pachyderm assault on this great weekly challenge hosted by his friend Al.
Please take a moment to check out this page to see some superb interpretations of the Japanese Haibun, a literary form which explores the relationship between the human experience and nature.
This week he chooses this literary quote as his topic.
“Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another:
“What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .””
— C.S. Lewis (The Four Loves)

Lochwinnoch Bird Sanctuary by AnElephantCant

Friendship
He arrives at 10 o’clock for their first meeting in five months, by some distance the longest time they have ever been apart.
There is no strangeness, arms are wide, smiles are wider.
What do you want to do? he asks.
Lochwinnoch, his grandson answers.
He grins, delighted.
The bird sanctuary, the loch, the fresh air and, the bonus, a train journey.
Good call, he says.
He is also happy to see Jack wearing the jacket which was a specific Christmas request.
It was surprisingly difficult to get hold of, requiring the intervention of a friend in the USA to circumvent customs restrictions.
For a present for an 8-year old?
It comes with binoculars and an assortment of things of varying usefulness – boys’ toys.
Two trains and two hundred laughs later they arrive.
They walk the woodland paths and view the loch from various hides where the twitchers are, as always, exceptionally kind to the young enthusiast.
They get as wet and muddy as is humanly possible.
They see a wide selection of feathered creatures, herons and swans, several species of duck and geese, including his favourite Canada Gooses (sorry, AnElephant writes that bit!), robins and wrens, innumerable types of tits and finches, blackbirds and large black birds, and too many others to mention.
Or remember.
Lunch consists of sandwiches and fruit juice on tree stumps overlooking the placid loch.
A day, and a life, can hardly be better.

a mother and a daughter
links a boy and a man
an unbreakable bond

Friends by AnElephantCant