Salt's Canyon

I think my body is rebelling against the lack of exercise. I kept getting cramps in my feet during the night, resulting in an unusually fitful bout of sleep. I was slow getting organised this morning and somehow only gave myself a couple of minutes to get the train (it's a five minute stroll, a four minute brisk walk, and a three minute jog). I got on to the platform and the doors were already closed. The conductor (at the other end of the train) doesn't normally give you a chance but I sprinted down the length of all four coaches and managed to jump on just as the clock ticked past the very second it was due to depart.

From feeling rather flat and tired I was suddenly energised and have since been in good form all day. If I'd left a few minutes earlier and caught the train with plenty of time to spare then I may well have suffered a rather flat day. The act of nearly missing the train propelled me into a better mood. It's rather sad that we don't seem able to do this very easily for ourselves. If external circumstance threatens to take something away and then puts it back just as we are adjusting to the loss, we find ourselves bumped up an energy level - even though nothing has changed.

I'm tempted to describe this as a "free lunch", but I better not because I'm forever saying to my family that there is no such thing as a free lunch in this universe. I like to think I have an open mind, but this is one of those axioms I cling on to very tightly. If you run the train as close as I did this morning then today's free lunch and good mood will soon be replaced by tomorrow's annoyance when there is a different conductor ready to close the door just as you arrive. It's happened often enough.

It's been an unremittingly grey and damp day here but I went for a walk at lunchtime to find something representative to blip. What a difference a day makes!

PS Thanks to your great comments I've changed the titles of two recent blips. All that talk of Middle Earth and Lost Valleys inspired me. You know who you are. Cheers!