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Published: April 20th 2020
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Morning all - I guess you will all be up and greeting the dawn . Sleep did not come easy last night . Tossing and turning . You get nights like that at times . Hoping that once your head hits the pillow you will fall asleep . Some nights you do. Others the ticking of the clock gives you clues to the fact the hours are passing and you are still not asleep. All that walking . All that fresh air. I should hit the pillow and be asleep in seconds . But not last night . I don't know why . My mind seemed to be racing . What shall I do tomorrow ? It is week 5 of the lockdown. Many jobs have been completed and like the painting of the Forth Road bridge it is time to start them again. Where shall I walk ? My mind is made up for me . "We are getting up earlier than normal" says the driver . That means an extra quarter of an hour . He plans to drive to the local builders merchants to pick up a bag of cement via Click and Collect . Ordered Saturday he
received the message that it was ready late last night so had planned to be first in line at the shop. That opened up a different walk for me. He could drop me off halfway to the builders merchants and I would walk back . Sorted . Just getting up at 6 was the problem . I really did not feel like it at all. The sun had barely broken through but it did have the promise of being a warm day . It was a coat on day .
As we drive we see no-one . It feels like a ghost town. Still feel that I cannot get used to eerie quietness , the lack of people and cars. It feels otherworldly . As Glenn drives we drop into small talk . "Do you want picking up on the way back?" "What about petrol ?" "Do we need a fill up?" It felt as if every cloud had a silver lining as it is so cheap to buy at the moment .. Cheaper than it has been for years . We don't need any nor will we need any next week. It felt like the bald man who
found combs on offer . How ironic that something we don't need costs so little for a change.
Glenn parked up for a moment at the old bus turning area . I got out quickly . A quick glance to see if we would get a ticket for parking on a bus stop. No sign on the ground . No sign saying no parking . No camera to record our every movement . We think we are safe . Glenn drove off leaving me to my own thoughts that were racing round my head . I wondered if he would have to queue . He hates queuing but then if have read my ramblings over the years that won't come as a surprise . Sadly I passed a dead hedgehog . With so few vehicles I wondered how he managed to die on the road hit by a car. A few feet either way and he would have lived to see the day. It wasn't the best of walks . Through the suburbs to the main A61. Along it for a short walk before I returned to country roads and uphill heading for home.
By the time I
had climbed the steady hill I had met just one other person who spoke . He looked as if he was on his way to work . Lanyard round his neck . Everyone else who passed me by did not raise their heads. They looked steadily the other way . As another week of lockdown was beginning I added yet another few miles to the distance walked . If I carry on like this I would have been well on my way to North Wales or even walked the entire length of Hadrians Wall . To do that though I would have needed to enlist the help of Sion and his best friend Woolly . I could not have even thought to walk Hadrians Wall without the furry ones , They would never have forgiven me .
On the way home the mobile phone rang . " Guess what I was first in the queue" Ok get home and get the kettle on .
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Just last week I couldn't fall asleep...
without any reason. It's nice to know other humans have the same problem. Walking Hadrian's Wall has been on my bucket list, but only the sections where there is a wall. I had hoped to add it to my Scotland itinerary in September, but not enough time to do everything. Have you become hooked on walking yet? There are so many wonderful ways in the British Isles; some shorter and some longer.