Blogs from Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 26

With a new puppy addition to the family this year and the first Christmas Martin and I would be on our own and not overseas travelling somewhere, we decided to head somewhere fairly close for Christmas this year. Luckily we had our furrbabies for company - !! The end result was a cottage in the Peak District, somewhere we’d wanted to see for a while. So, dogs and Christmas treats in the car, off we headed the Friday before Christmas. It was somewhat surreal being on our own for Christmas for the first time, but a lovely holiday none the less… every day was pretty much the same… exploring all over the countryside on walks with Oslo and Sabie, (introducing Sabie to sheep!), catching up on sleep and DVDs in front of the roaring fire, over ... read more

November 5th, 2012: Devil’s Dyke to Torside (5-ish miles) … Upon waking, Ruth and I realized that it was November 5th, otherwise known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day/Night. The day, and more specifically the night, originates from the failed attempt of Guy Fawkes and other terrorist conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. The detonation was to take place on State Opening day, when the King, Lords, and Commons would all be present in the Lords Chamber. The precise motive for the plot is unknown, but it is speculated that it was to unseat the king(1). In the immediate aftermath of the arrest of Mr. Fawkes(2), who’d been caught guarding an accumulation of explosives in the cellar, the king’s council allowed the public to celebrate the ruler’s survival with bonfires, so ... read more

November 3rd, 2012: Harrow to Edale via train; Edale to the top of Kinder Downfall via foot (5-ish miles) … Sleep is not a strong point of mine. Never has been, probably will never be. So it wasn’t too terribly unexpected that I was unable to sleep last night. Usually, it’s emotional turmoil that keeps me lying there awake("Foot"note #1), tossing and turning, but last night it was excitement! Pure, untainted excitement. Like most grown-ups who get to decide for themselves, I had gone to bed late. It was around midnight when I finally hit the hay. This wasn’t too unusual in itself. What was unusual was that as soon as I laid down I remembered ten more things to do. Rarely do I have ten things to do during a given day, let alone ten ... read more

Man invented airplanes so that he could travel vast distances in an instant without seeing a single thing en route. I am seated in one such airplane and all I can see is the back of the seat in front of me. It’s not difficult to see since it’s a mere six inches from my face. The passenger in front of me has reclined that seat so that even if I were Harry Houdini I could not escape. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to do much else but suffer. And suffer, I do. While passing the time has always been a favorite pastime of mine, sometimes there are times when that time doesn’t pass quickly enough. To be sure, this is one of those times. It’s an eight-or-so-hour flight from Chicago to London’s Heathrow Airport ... read more

Sunday 24th June 7am Summer rain in the time-borrowed garden. Everything is drenched, rain heavy, dripping - the air, the hedgerows, grass, foxgloves, roofs and pathways are all rain covered. The rain rebounds off the old pigsty roof, dancing up and down. It sings a song around me. The rain-showers become a chorus repeating back and forth in between the verses of quiet. It is 7am and I am in garden of an old house in the Arkwright village of Cromford. It is void of human interaction, no cars, no neighbours, everyone is sleeping inside and I can clearly hear the patterns of the shifting rain. Above the valley, the mist is rising and the clouds sink down. I can just make out the horizon. The gardens overlap, divided by old dry-stone walls, obsolete pig stys, ... read more