 Dear Friends,
Signs and Omens seem to be a big theme this month. This month’s Chat Page is about them, Mary Wainwright wrote about them, and we feel moved to write about them, too.
It all began a month or so ago when Mary sent us a beautiful photograph she had taken of a plantain flower. Now you might think plantain flowers are rather plain (the word ‘plain’ is even part of the word ‘plantain’), but if you look closely at Mary’s photo, you will see that every single one of the plantain’s stamens is shaped like a tiny white heart. Amazing! Mary told us ‘There’s a message to go with the flower, but I’ll send you that later.’
Well, now we’re going to talk about something entirely different for a bit, and maybe you’ll think we’re leaping off at a tangent, but wait and see. It all comes together...
As some of you know, because we mentioned it in one of our email newsletters, Cygnus is soon going to be moving into a wonderful commercial unit just down the road, right next to the Royal Mail sorting office in Llandeilo. As you read this, a second floor is being built in the unit, and as soon as that’s done, the Cygnus wagons will roll. Our 0845 phone number will stay the same, as will our Freepost and PO Box addresses, and we’ll let you know the new street address in our next magazine. All calls to our 01550 777 701 number will be forwarded of course, so you needn’t worry about missing us even if you dial the old number by mistake. (New number, as of November 2008 is 01558 825 500)
It seems right to make this move for many reasons, and we are very excited about it. For Geoff and me however, it has brought us to a crossroads, a place of choosing which we didn’t even recognize at first. To ensure the survival of Cygnus through whatever economic ups and downs may lie ahead, we knew we had to sell a building. We thought it would be a simple matter of selling Bwlch Agored – the building Cygnus is about to vacate – and keeping our home, Garreg Fawr, which is a totally magical place, a fairytale cottage in the woods such as we have always dreamed of.
However....... life had other plans. The Cygnus team set to work making Bwlch Agored ready for sale. If I used the Biblical term: ‘like a bride adorned for her husband’, to convey to you an image of how lovely they made it look, you’d get the idea. Well, we went over there to admire their handiwork and take photos, and you know, it was such a strange feeling! I started talking to a colleague, Jackie Hollington, about how lovely it looked, and my voice started shaking. ‘How odd’, I thought. And Jackie said, ‘Wait a minute. You’ve got some very strong feelings about this haven’t you.. Are you sure you want to sell this place?’ And then I realised what I really wanted, and I promise you, no one could have been more surprised than me. After all, why would I want to leave Garreg Fawr? It is such a wonderful place to be.
But my heart, I realised, is still at Bwlch Agored, the place where we lived for 10 years, and where we have nurtured Cygnus since 1993.
Which brings me back to Mary’s beautiful photograph, with all its tiny white hearts adorning such an – apparently – plain flower. A couple of days after I had this revelation and shared it with Geoff, Mary rang. I wasn’t in, so she left a message with Sarah, which she was most insistent that Sarah should give to me straight away. Mary explained that the message she received when she took the photograph was ‘Everything comes full circle’. And she added: ‘Tell Ann she needs to go home. Her heart is already there.’
What a sign! We couldn’t have wished for a better one, could we? And we certainly felt like we needed one because, though our hearts were in no doubt, to our logical minds it seemed such an odd choice to be making. So.. to cut a long story short, Garreg Fawr is now on the market, and – as it seems to be our time to move on – we are sure that Garreg Fawr will attract a new owner whose destiny lies with the place, just as ours does with Bwlch Agored. We have created a page about Garreg Fawr (click on the link and the page will open as a pdf in a new window) so that, if it happens to be part of your destiny to live there, you’ll recognise it. For the rest of you, we hope you’ll find it interesting just to read about. It really is an unusual place.
May you too be blessed with the signs you need, at the times when you need them.
With much love,
Ann, Geoff, Sarah, Martyn and the Cygnus Team
 'Everything comes full circle.' © Mary Wainwright 2008 |
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