Branching out

When you listen to the accounts of how people have felt through the past six months, the Groundhog Day aspect of life keeps coming up - the repetitive nature of life in lockdown; the unwillingness of some to come out of the cocoon they've built themselves into. I felt I broke out of the routine a bit today, even if it was only to go out for a walk in the morning rather than the afternoon, and to go in an area that I've not been in since the 1980s simply because one path disappeared and a "Private" notice went up. 

The other lovely variation was to walk with a new walking companion. Despite knowing each other for 18 months or so, we've not had the opportunity to do more than briefly socialise after church or in the supermarket, so this was a chance to fill in the many gaps. The main outcome was that we talked non-stop for two hours as we walked. Occasionally we broke off to wonder at the number of herons we were seeing - flapping up in front of us, flying majestically overhead, screeching unpleasantly high above us. And then there was the view ...

I took several photos of Loch Striven from above, capturing a different view from this new vantage point, but I'm blipping one from almost sea level as we arrived back down near the shore. This kind of random birch wood is very typical of native woodland in these parts, and the grand fungi on the dead tree in the foreground was rather splendid.

The first drops of rain arrived just as we got back into the car, and by the time I got home for lunch it was fair tipping it down - we'd been hugely lucky.

Much later, Mr PB and I walked (I know - he'd not been out because of That Cupboard) up to church to rehearse the hymn I'll be singing tomorrow. En route we met an old friend we haven't seen for many years, someone who sang in the first choir we had here, formed 46 years ago this month. The resulting chat meant that we weren't home till 6.30pm, utterly ravenous. I suspect the 13 kilometres I'd walked during the day contributed to that - I've not really felt hungry for several weeks, so it was rather pleasant.

Memo to self: keep branching out. Beats happy pills ...