We pulled up in front of the shopping centre, just off the motorway.  Its buildings, white and impressive, reminded me of a large club house, where cricket or golf is played.  The buildings stretch out. As you walk towards the shops, mostly designer, with a few coffee shops like Starbucks, you can rest for a while on the benches here and there.  It has a fountain in the centre, like the Trevi Fountain in Rome, where people toss in coins.  My granddaughter, Aoibh, threw a few.  They made a splash when they hit the surface before sinking to the bottom.   Then she made a wish.

It was a weekday so not very busy, though some people sat outside coffee shops in the sunshine, looking very relaxed.  My daughter was there to buy sandles in Clairks, for her young three year old.  They are cheaper than the regular Clarks shops in town.  She also bought a tan handbag at the same shop.  I bought a jumper in Hobbs.  Was only going to window-shop, but couldn’t resist a bargain.  We walked from shop to shop thinking how you could spend a fortune if you had it. It’s a small enough area but everything is within easy distance.

Afterwards, we went for a coffee and then to the playground to let Aoibh have a little freedom.  While there, I took my young grandson Eoin for walk in his buggy along the wooden walk-way that stretches out away from the shopping village, but with the playground still in sight.  Rolling grasslands spread out to the left, and more to the right where shrubs had been planted along the perimeter of the walkway.   Some areas still had to be finished.  Across to the left was an old ruin and in the distance a square building of a school could be seen.  It must have been lunchtime, just after noon, as the sound of laughter and shrieks carried on the wind.  You couldn’t see them, but they seem to be having a lot of fun as their voices gave an atmosphere of moving here and there, up and down.  What a joyful sound, familiar, as you would hear passing any playground on a summer’s day.  A church spire could be seen far into the distance.  In the forefront was a statue of a lady, her face lifted towards the sky with her hands behind her back.  She stood on a large globe of the world, copper maybe, green markings.  Her stance seemed perfect on the day that was in it, facing towards the warm sun.  You could almost feel the heat on her features.  A clock peered through, part of the main buildings, stretching upwards, taking pride of place.  I came back and sat on one of the benches, while my daughter waited for Aoibh to venture down the slide.

As the sun warmed my face and I waited with my grandson, along with other people and small children, I thought how much I wouldn’t usually notice around me.  Today I did.

Josephine Nolan