Lowestoft is famous! Yesterday we made the headlines in several national newspapers:
‘Vicious’ seagulls are terrorising residents and visitors in a Suffolk seaside town’
‘Ashley Catchpole, a beach cleaner from Lowestoft, said: “They’re cute in some ways – but when they go after food they really are vicious and quite horrible. They’re very determined once they see food. The trouble is that some people feed them which makes it worse…’
Many local folks tell of seagulls taking chips, ice-creams or sandwiches. Children have been upset; adults have been angered. Many would agree with Ashley that seagulls are ‘vicious and quite horrible’… Lowestoft seagulls aren’t going away; they must be coped with.
Yesterday…
…I had coffee with Gemma. Gemma’s a young woman who lives with her dad. Dad presents as ‘Susan’ and has been cross-dressing for many years. Sometimes Gemma refers to him as ‘Dad’; sometimes she talks about her as Susan.
Gemma’s dad isn’t ‘vicious and horrible’, but her ‘seagull’ isn’t going away. She understands and copes with her dad really well.
…I was in contact with Roger who’s recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He’s decided to go ahead with surgery that’s now been arranged… Cancer as Roger’s seagull? It’s certainly ‘vicious and horrible’.
Roger’s a man with Christian faith. Yesterday he talked about feeling peace and wrote: ‘We can see God in this whole journey.’
…I visited our Seagull Theatre. There’s holiday activities for young people, puppet-making for adults with disabilities, art groups for those struggling with their well-being, wonderful new writing, the jazz weekend, an exciting documentary film, eagerly anticipated groups and shows…
This Seagull, rather than being an aggressive, destructive nuisance to be coped with, is a positive, creative, welcoming asset to be celebrated.
I read more of the Jesus narrative this morning… where despair turns to hope, death becomes life, loss is transformed to gain… and vicious, horrible seagulls become uplifting and joyful.
malcolmsmusings.org 