It's been a while......

Oh dear - how remiss of me.

I have been on holiday - 2 weeks walking in Northumberland, walking the middle bit of Hadrian's wall which was just great.

I was concerned - being the least fit of the 4 of us - that I would be huffing and puffing in the rear while everyone else hung around waiting but actually there was only one day when I struggled, and that was the longest, steepest and wettest walk, so all in all I feel proud of myself.

Other great pluses

- 2 weeks off work
- spending a leisurely time with  my sister and brother in law
- lots of cake
- lots of excellent meals with lovely wine and (mostly) good cheese
- beautiful countryside
- not too much rain
- sense of achievement
- unexpected concert with one of B's ex students performing
- learning lots about the Wall and the Romans in the truly excellent museums

Had a great time.

Thoughts of Hadrian's Wall

There was a missing of birdsong
only rooks, pheasants, kestrel and a solitary silent coal tit
inhabit Grindon and the Wall.
Marching with shadows of lost legionaries as our steps
lock on gravel
in time
out of time
past and present blurring
in a place where time blurs.

At Whinspear we marvel
and think of the Syrian archer shivering on the Wall,
his short sleeves, short skirt and thin leather boots
while we snug in Goretex complain
about wind and rain.
Only September, only rain,
winter still to come and the snow,
imagine the snow.
We think kindly of our softer Southern homes.

Views stretch and stretch
beyond eyesight
beyond binoculars
beyond words to express the sublimity.
It is visceral, not rational.
Living in memory as well as photographs.