Basil
From his nursing home room Basil could see a fountain, a bit of courtyard, some lawn and a stunning claret ash tree. I remember vividly going one autumn day to see him. The wind had that decided edge to it, the sky was crystal blue and the leaves had turned that spectacular deep, sumptuous red. For a while we chattered away and on this particular day, Basil's insights were a prickly balm that made you stand on your head and take notice. The irony was that Basil wasn’t as sharp as he used to be. The years had worn his body down and the words took a little while to tumble out, but when they did… they were valuable words.
I marveled at what he said. The sort of wisdom that only someone who is senior in years could offer. Basil was someone who could look back with hindsight and see the big picture, a view from the hill if you like.
For an indeterminate amount of time we just looked in silence at the miracle of nature in the claret ash tree. The space in our conversation was filled with unspeakable light.
I came away humbled and blessed by the encounter. I couldn’t help thinking how marvelous it was that in the autumn of his life, Basil was in some ways, his most magnificent. As I approach my autumnal time, my hope is that I too might become another ‘Basil’.