Film buffs will remember the film - Gigi I think it was - where Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold (so you know the film wasn't made yesterday!) had been lovers many years ago and then met again. They recalled a date they had had - the song was called "I Remember it Well" - and they differed on every memory
Memory has a habit of playing tricks with us. Ironically, a place which becomes prominent in the imagination is often the least substantial when it comes down to trying to remember hard facts.
So it is with Barmouth..........
It was around 1980, Boxing Day, unseasonably warm and sunny. Three of us - or was it four - made a sudden decision to drive to Barmouth for the day. After the Christmas Day feast there would have been plenty of turkey for sandwiches, Christmas cake and fruit and cheese for afters; there might even have beena bottle of wine. Anyhow - the picnic was packed and we set off.
We reached Barmouth easily because I expect everyone else was at home watching Boxing Day television. The roads were empty - we trundled along - maybe we sang carols as we went.
Barmouth beach was empty except for one man and his dog in the far distance.
The sun shone, the tide was out, the beach was sheltered. We leaned up against a rock and ate our picnic, we took off our shoes and socks and had a paddle in the sea. Then we came home.
So why, I ask my readers, does that day stand out in my memory as a Golden Day - a Special Day. Why - every Boxing Day - do I find cause to mention it and to reminisce about such an ordinary event about which I can actually remember very little - maybe only the man and dog on the beach and the paddling?
Well it does add weight to the adage that "a moment enjoyed is never wasted!"
Do you have a Golden Day Memory?
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