Looking back

It's been ages since I've seen Simon - four months, in fact - and we've spent the last two or three weeks trying to arrange a walk, which finally came to fruition today with a stroll around Stocks Reservoir. It looked like it was going to be hot so we decided to meet at 08:30 and get 'round while it was still relatively cool. 

It was a good day for walking: clear, dry, warm (and getting warmer) but with enough cloud to keep the sun off us. The first couple of miles are the hardest work, although not that bad, and then you are up on the old train line, a temporary fixture that was introduced while the reservoir was being engineered. It's my favourite bit of the walk.

I took this shot looking back the way we'd come along the old line, which would make a lousy metaphor for our conversation, which was quietly excited and very forward looking: all our various plans for the future. Maybe that's what everyone is doing at the moment, looking ahead to when the lockdown is unequivocally over and we are back to (the new) normal.

My extra is the channel that carries surplus water out of the reservoir. I'd like to come back when it's raging but it was bone dry today.

And after our walk, we went into Slaidburn and met up with Simon's friend, Ramsay, who was excellent company over a well-earned breakfast.

****
-9.4 kgs (sudden bizarre weight spike, possibly the legacy of a Chinese takeaway, last night.)