The bus journey

Oh the joys of having a bus pass!  Today I took the bus and travelled to Wells to meet up with my friend Diane.  It makes a nice change from driving as you don’t need to concentrate so much on the roads and traffic but can enjoy the views.  The journey took about an hour and a quarter – much time to ponder and people watch.  The cattle were out in the fields and the sheep grazing on the hillside.  The fields were a lush green and the sun was shining, a pleasant change from yesterday's torrential downpours.  I noticed in some fields the farmers had already stacked the hay high and covered the haystacks with tarpaulin ready for the winter.  How they watch the seasons and prepare in advance!

The village of Somerton, the one time capital of ancient Wessex



We travelled through villages and country towns, farmland on either side for most of the journey – past Yeovil Marsh and Chilthorne Domer, through Ilchester, calling in at the villages of Kingsdon and Somerton.  Then on through Littleton (blink and you’ve missed it!), Compton Dundon and on to Street, Glastonbury, through Coxley and into Wells.  The bus was an Easy Access one and there were a couple of baby pushchairs and a wheeled walking aid for a person with walking difficulties.  I wondered how these people managed before there were Easy Access buses?  Their time outside of their homes must have been very limited.  Things most of us take for granted, like a bus journey, can be so difficult for many people.

A baby wagon that can carry a number of toddlers.



As we went through Street, I noticed whom I thought were probably two nursery assistants with a pull/push along wagon containing about 8 toddlers who were having a great time being taken out for a ‘walk’ (or rather a ride) in the sunshine.  It made me smile.

Glastonbury



Glastonbury - what a place of spiritual battles!  Right next to the Abbey was a shop called Man, Myth and Magik (spelt with a ‘k’).  Along the main street you could see other buildings with names like Cat and Cauldron, Minerva, The Avalon Club, Inner Beauty Salon, The Goddess and the Green Man and many others.  One that did make me smile was Burns the Bread Shop.  I thought it was rather an unfortunate surname for someone making and selling bread!  One very loud and worse-for-wear man and boy got on the bus, carrying a guitar, appearing to be a remnant from the hippie era.  I couldn’t help thinking that so many people live on the margins of society.  In Glastonbury there are so many people with a desire for something more than just food and drink, a desire for something spiritual and yet have not yet encountered Jesus.  Lord how do we reach them with your truth?  Questions, questions!

The coffee shop in Wells Cathedral



Diane and I had just over 3 hours in Wells before I got my bus back to Yeovil.  It’s so good to share and catch up with friends.  We went to the Cathedral coffee shop for coffee and then walked around for a while, stopped for lunch and then walked again through the town before it was time to go our separate ways.  The journey back was quiet – no toddlers in pushchairs, no loud hippies, just quiet pondering about our conversation and remembering the different people who today had made an impression one way or another.