Old Friend

Twenty years ago I retired, we had a walk along the cliffs here at Capel-le-Ferne (White cliffs of Dover) and watched a simulated cliff rescue with Air Sea rescue helicopter, firebrigade, Coastguard etc and got talking to another couple and I realised she was in my youth club over 40 years earlier. We walked back their car talking to them and she said her husband was retiring the following year and they were going to have a long holiday flying round the World. The following year we were invited to stay with an old friend from RAF days in his house at Huntington Beach California. We flew to San Francisco, hired a car and spent a few days bird watching driving down HIghway 1 to L.A. On our first day at Huntington Beach we went down to Bolsa Chica Wetlands, the local bird reserve, and I set up my birding telescope, a lady came over and said she only had binoculars which were not strong enough for her to identify a bird and she wanted to know if it was a Lesser Yellow Legs or a Greater Yellow Legs. Whilst discussing the identification she picked up on our accents and asked if we were from England, and then which part, when we said from Folkestone she said "That's a coincidence. my husband has a cousin who lives in Hythe, in fact she and her husband have been staying with us on their way flying round the World and I have just seen them off this morning at L.A. Airport" and it was that very same couple. We have since met up with them again by chance in a local village pub and they have joined my theatre group on trips to London.