Summer decided to show up for the weekend, so I took advantage of that and went out in the Pentlands for a few hours to get up some hills and train. Considering my last two training days consisted of playing on the Elie Chain Walk (where the hardest workout was the spontaneous guerrilla gardening at Cat's grandfather's house) and a couple hours along the (very flat) Water of Leith, I thought some hills were necessary.
 |
| Chelsea and Cat on the Chain Walk |
 |
| Guerrilla gardening, 1950s style |
 |
| Heron on the Water of Leith |
Wandering around the Pentlands with Charlotte and Penny was wonderful - we found cows, sheep, a kestral, and a nice sunny spot out of the wind for lunch. Can't ask for much more in a day out in Scotland!
 |
| Char, Penny and I |
In the natural pace of hill walking, there are moments of silence in the conversation. Either the hill is getting too steep or the path too long and talking just needs to cease for a while. It was during one of these moments that it actually hit me - I'm going to be walking, for four days, in the hills with Victoria, a chunk of bread and a sleeping bag. The amount of time to think, wonder, rethink and reflect is going to be enormous! Especially compared to the hectic schedule of 21st century life - the pinging of email inboxes, the beeping of text messages, the car horns speeding by, commuters plugged into mp3 players to zone out from their brief exposure to potential human interaction on public transport, music played loud enough to drown out our own thoughts in order to escape for a while, deadlines chasing deadlines chasing deadlines. To take four days to just be in nature, walk, talk and think... I think this is just the beginning of understanding why people go on pilgrimages in the first place.
 |
| Pentlands |
No comments:
Post a Comment