Say it isn't so!

I returned from WOMAD all hippified and chilled. I slept for 14 hours solid, got up, went and did Medad's shopping, then took off with the gang and made a total fool of myself by attempting Ten Pin Bowling. And while all that was going on, Weston Super Mare Pier burnt down. Tragedy! I love proper piers, and the one at Weston occupied a special place in my heart. 

My grandma spent summer holidays in the town itself as a girl; many years later, she and my grandfather treated me to my very first donkey ride on the beach there before introducing me to the delights of fish and chips on the pier itself afterwards. When I lived in Clevedon, my best friend and I often eschewed the elegant virtues of the pier in our own little wonderland to wander through the shingle beneath Weston's tackier, flashier version instead, where we searched for - and found! - both fossils and the meaning of life. I took my sister's children to the indoor fairground at the end of Weston Pier when they were still in nappies; we went on the mini-rollercoaster, and the littlest one threw up all over me. 

Today, those children are all grown up, my grandparents have gone to the big holiday resort in the sky, my flat in Clevedon is part of a massive redevelopment that includes a luxury hotel .... and Weston Super Mare Pier is no more. Still, no donkeys were harmed in the blaze, I've discovered excellent fish and chips in Bath, my best friend still holds that title and the fossils we found live in my underwear drawer. While  the same can't be said for the meaning of life, this much I know for sure: make the very most of the people and places you love while you can; you just never know the moment when they're suddenly going to disappear forever.