Fjords of the moor II...

...and the silver clouds.

[EDITED...PLEASE READ BELOW FOR A FEW MORE MIND CHATTERINGS]
Tonight s write up could be a long story and it might be a long one, it depends how much time I got before twelve...to write all I want to tell you. Ooohhh what will happen after twelve ? ...aaaahh well that s the time I turn into a merman and become one with the water, talk to the dolphins and swim like one!

Before I go ...but I will be back to write the story I would like to say that I had the most wonderful surprise on the train this evening, Earthdreamer got on the same train back to Ilkley. I was really in my own world and my mind chatterings were intense, but I was so happy to see him, it felt almost like a dream and when I left him at the train station I was wondering all the way up to the moor if I actually saw Earthdreamer on the train or not.

I had a million things to do and another million things to think about. I don't want to bore you with the details of what I had to do, but I could mention one or two things. I was going to do the Filey to Bridlington leg for the Olympic Real Relay but speaking to the team they suggested I should bid for the two EPIC as they called them stages of Scafell Pike the ascent and the descent and they took me off that stage. So I did, I bid for the stages and watched them but although I had a good maximum, by the time I was out of a morning meeting I was outbid and the auction was concluded. That meant the team I was putting together could no longer do that challenge and now planning to go on a different stage somewhere in the south when another 250 become available. Communications were also open to Greece as well with the new government forming as for the last three months I was advising a few key members of the team on certain affairs, but now I ll just have to sit back and watch what will happen. I feel good things will happen and I really count on my nation surviving and shining again as Greeks are warriors.

Having arranged a last minute baby sitter, although my children don't really need a baby sitter anymore, it's more for their own safety as my daughter always starts baking as soon as I go and my mind is there thinking what if a little accident was to happen (I am not paranoid in any way) but at the end of the day she is only 13. So with only two and a half hours before I was home and after a super long day, I arrived at the bottom of the moor after a lightening fast meeting in between the train station and the moor around ten past seven, stripped down to minimal clothes (at the time it was not raining yet, but I could feel the storm coming), put my minimal fell shoes on that I loved last night as they took me up to the top beautifully where I went completely barefoot and I ll tell you why in a bit. Back to the stripping down bit that I nowadays do anywhere and find normal if I am going to be running or cycling afterwards -although tonight wearing my speedos would probably look quite normal with the amount of rain coming down-packed my jeans and t-shirt in my bag and ready I was to experience the magic. I bumped into the Harriers group though doing hills training at the bottom, so I thought to join them for some fun. Did the hill session -some were very happy to see me, some perhaps surprised I was there- and an hour flew by. Straight after I joined them, the heavens opened and I was absolutely loving it, I love the rain coming down hard and experiencing that power of her making you wet in a matter of seconds but also the power of her to refresh you and make you feel alive and dare I say sexy too! My mind flew to the team and my friends doing the Harrogate summer league race -one of them there that you all know was Mr John- and wished in my mind they all have a great race. Unfortunately I could not go as that meant I would have to be away from home for many hours and the children had studying to do so not willing to take the drive up.

The hill session came to an end and my heart starting pumping hard, not because of the hill repeats I just did, but because I was about to 'get lost' on the moors and ask for healing, receive healing, connect to the earth and talk to the clouds and the sheep actually that they were the only ones up there tonight as well as the grouse and some birds. There was not another human soul up there, I was all alone on a vast moor. So with a very heavy bag on my back I started running up and up and up looking forward to reach the top. The trails and paths were either streams or waterfalls in the case of the giant steps as I call them. People tend to call the different places on the moor by names, I am more like the native indians I believe I give names to the locations I only understand some times or describe the location. So the giant steps, I do call the rocky valley ...rocky valley as that is the correct name in my mind too, then we have the crater, the little woods, the beck/stream in between cow and calf and the rocky valley ...this one has a name I think it's called backstone Beck ( it s where i did some lower body skinny dipping once just to cool my legs down though as it was a busy day on the moor, then it rained hail and I was transformed in an ice column. I blipped about that before)

When I reached the top, the low silver clouds, the amazing cloudscapes, the moor completely wet (and midge free I would like to add) took my mind away. Million images flashed in front of my eyes and I was trying to receive all that beauty and vastness in front of my eyes. I ran up and down the trails and went knee high into the bogs many times and when I was at a spot I really wanted to capture some of what I was seeing took the iphone out but it was all wet and lens was steamed up and had nowhere to dry the lens as everything was wet. Some of the shots came through the lens of the water droplets on the lens of the phone. The backup plan was to open the bag that surprisingly resisted Miss Rain's force and the contents were dry. Out came the s2 to save the day. So with another way of capturing some photos in my hand, I ran up and down the trails quick and head to my favourite spot the Fjords of the moor, which are the rock on top of the rocky path. By now I was barefoot, splashing in the cold water and going into the mud, absolutely loving it and feeling my body getting energised by all those magic energies that come through Gaia. And glad I was I was barefoot as trying to go to the edge of a very wet and slippy rock with a sheer drop below it I nearly lost my balance but my injured (in a way as it still hurts and not moving as it should) kept me from falling off the cliff, if i was in my shoes I could have easily slipped off, I do think the thick vegetation would save me. After I touched that rock, my foot stopped hurting and suddenly i felt like a huge amount of healing entering my body, and that is the reason I went barefoot. That's when I looked up and far away and my heart melt looking at that view and captured that photo again with a wet camera. I sometimes wonder how much more magic I would be able to capture if I had my proper camera with me, but straight away what I think is that 'do I really want to capture this magic'? The answer is a no. To me what matters is to share how wonderful is our world and send you a call to join me, come out with me to experience that magic through your own eyes or go out yourselves to experience it. No camera can do what the eyes do. Saying that photography wouldn't exist if nobody wanted to take any photos...but I sometimes do feel strange capturing the beauty of this world, it feels almost like not making justice to the real world ( the one we experience and the way we experience it anyway)

...if I was to right a guide for how to run in heavy rain, I think my guide would be very short...possibly one sentence and would not be very popular. Experimenting how quickly you can get wet to the bone if it s raining with purpose there were cases that in less 30secs the process was complete. That sentence would be, Dress Minimally! This is not my advise to all of you, this is how I would run with Miss Rain, Mr Frost and Mr Wind if they did really insist to keep me company, not that I would resist, I love them all equally. I ll start from the top to bottom...bandana to start with (well I always wear one, although I am trying to transition to a hat and then no hat) , a simple very light paper thin vest to dry quickly, my as always short short compression tights letting the legs move, breath and gallop and a pair of minimalist shoes, no shocks. That s it, no waterproof long tights, no long stuff that would get wet and become heavy as a knight s armour. Ooohhh and perhaps a pair of gloves just to keep the hands as warm as you can in frosty conditions. Well I just described you how I go out in heavy rain, even snow.

Two more paragraphs to go...but tell me if you already had enough haha. I wanted to write about spending some time with the children talking about the world, including Paige our wolf dog and Kouka the cat who were in the same route with us AND also write a bit about my powerful swim and what it means to me to become one with the water....

...but more later, I have to use some technology now to return a call...will be back...you can read my raw mind chatterings above for now

I got some better shots I think but I like this one...and I was so wet, soaking wet (was loving it really) and the lens was wet and could not wipe it anywhere as everything was wet wet wet