Pier responses from St Leonards and Florida

I have had the following responses to the Hastings pier blogs:

Many thanks to Matthew of St Leonards for this:

I have just spoken to the current occupant of 3 Norman Rd, St Leonards, and Angus Croyle, who took the dramatic photograph above, earnt enough money from the photo to buy the shop at number 3. Silver linings...

Many thanks to J J Botta of St Augustine, Florida, whose blog is called The Disconnected Writer

It is quite tragic. Reading the post reminded me of the first trip I took to Italy. I saw the Last Supper in the Santa Maria Delle Grazie chapel in Milan. Before I arrived, I did some research into the background of the chapel and discovered that virtually everything around it had been destroyed during WWII. I reflected on how my life would have been somewhat less fulfilled had the chapel been destroyed as well. Whenever a piece of our past vanishes, we are more alone.

Peter: It is not good or bad, just the way it is. It is part of life, which includes death. It is certainly not worth a leap from a bridge, which turns a fact of life into a tragic situation, but it does make us more isolated from our past. A memory intentionally destroyed is tragic. Otherwise, it's perfectly normal in the universe we share.

Photograph © John McLennan