We came, we saw, we rocked...and then we had a little sit down

Everywhere you go in North Devon there's a real buzz about the Atlantic Watersports Games Contest Competition thing. What do you mean...am I telling lies? OK, so I haven't been everywhere in North Devon and I'm not really a very good judge of "buzz", but anyway things are happening, stuff is going on and I'd sooner this was happening than not happening. And so it was that the ever-loving and I decided to venture to Bideford Quay - on a Wednesday, the low water mark of the week - to see live music played by real live people on a stage in front of an audience consisting of real live people, well, they'd got themselves there somehow.

All I can say is hats off to any musician who gets up and performs in front of an audience, some of whom might be regarded as clinically dead, in Bideford on a Wednesday night. First on were some rockers called Gang Of Thieves. They batterered themselves into a frenzy with a few metal covers and certainly gave 100 per cent, possibly even a footballer's 110 per cent and maybe even more.

And this was the result: (I was going to put a little picture here, but due to technical matters beyond my control, I have had to abandon that idea).

So we watched the rockers and then we saw a bit of Beth Funning - very sweet and very popular - and I decided the time had come to drink some beer. So a short hop to the White Hart and a couple of pints of Dark Horse from the Forge Brewery at Hartland. Yummy it was, too. I don't go in for descriptions of burnt toffee and wet dog. It was nice, try some. There was going to be a little pic of the pump clip so you would know what to look out for, but technical reasons got here first. Maybe later.

After our short beer break we went back to the quay where a young woman and some skinny boys with guitars were a-howling and a-wailing. We called it a night and headed for home, having first circumnavigated a small group of Welsh competitors from the Atlantic what-not who seemed intent on hugging a rubbish bin. One young man was wearing a  women's swimming costume over his normal clothes. This time no picture, but I bet he shows up somewhere on Facebook.

Anyway, that's my big night out, in Bideford, on a Wednesday - whatever next?

All dressed up and somewhere to go

The somewhere - it being that time of year - was my work Christmas party, which I had at various states of the tide looked forward to attending, railed against and even decided I'd skip despite paying up in advance for the event and accommodation. Anyway, we pitched up at the Saunton Sands Hotel, found our room had stunning views down the beach and out to sea, then spruced up and descended for drinks, dinner and dancing. So it was fun to have fun with colleagues in a setting that was out of the workplace and it was good to be able to point out to my long-suffering wife the various people I work with and tell her about at the end of my working day. My ever-loving and I did the jigging around thing in an increasingly sweaty mass of people only to be very slightly put off by noticing that both our GPs were also jigging around. Many staff from Bideford Health Centre were there, which I suppose would have been very handy if anyone keeled over with a heart attack at any time. As it turned out, after a certain amount of sweatiness we decided enough was enough and sloped off to bed.

What is it about alcohol that ensures you get a rubbish night's sleep? Whatever it is I woke up shortly before 5am. We'd left the curtains open so I looked out of the window at the sweep of Bideford Bay with Hartland Point lighthouse and the lights of the communities that line the bay and the estuary. Above us were the stars shining hard and bright - a cold night outside - and a waning moon almost resting on its back. Getting back into bed I mulled over the previous evening and realised that while I enjoyed the company of my colleagues - after all, I spend more of my waking hours with them than I do with anybody else - what had made the evening for me was being with my wife, and if there had been no one else there other than her, that would have been enough. So what, some might say, well, I suppose the answer to that is simply that it never hurts to be reminded of the people who are important to you. It is easy to take people for granted, but life is far too short to do that. With that thought sinking in, I lay in bed looking out at the stars wheeling across the sky. (Yes, I do know that the stars don't move - as such - and that their motion is, in fact, the impression given by the earth's rotation and travel on its orbit).

Hey, let's get naked

I was first on the beach this morning at about 5.30am. No other footprints in the sand, which had been washed flat by the tide. The beach was mine and my dog's. She didn't seem that impressed, but this morning was special, clear views from Hartland Point to Baggy. A container vessel lumbered its way the landward side of Lundy. All this under a sky laden with lilac, purple and pink clouds and the occasional patch of clear blue. What's that line in one of the songs on Quadrophenia by The Who? 'A beach is a place where a man feel/ He's the only soul in the world who's real.' That was me, but, obviously, not my dog.

So we walked along the beach and then headed down to the water's edge. The sea was whisper quiet and as I approached I decided a paddle was in order. Shoes and socks off, and carry on walking towards the water. It was then I formed the idea of going for a swim. Strip off and run headlong into the sea. Nobody was around, who would know? Skinny-dipping is the best way to swim, although not something you can do easily all the time. To swim in crystal clear sea (not round here, then) with the hot sun beating down (definitely not round here) is an almost transcendental experience. To appreciate the difference swimming without any clothing makes, try taking a bath in your underwear. Trust me on this. Anyway there I was, shoes and socks off gearing up for a daring dip when the first ripples of the sea washed around my ankles. God's teeth, it was cold. The dog ran in, but I decided a cup of coffee was in order.