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A long walk
Oct. 7th, 2011 04:17 pmI've not done a long walk since Walk the Wight in May (except for the long mountainous walk in Wales in July) and have been eager for the chance to get out and about again. I did so today, and now feel far more exhausted than I should do after 16 miles - about as tired as I was after 27 miles in May. It's depressing how quickly you get unused to exercise.
Random observations and thoughts:
- I crossed a country road next to a bus stop called "Back of Beyond." There were no houses anywhere in sight, and I didn't find Beyond itself.
- I see more and more ravens every time I go out. I think they're planning a coup.
- My route took me on a public footpath that goes right through a hilltop golf course - not perhaps the most ideal juxtaposition for either walkers or golfers. The whole hilltop is a mass of strange earthworks and terracing, and is almost enough to make me wish for some hideous future catastrophe that wipes out all written records, so future archaeologists can be baffled.
- On the way home, I saw a lollipop lady on duty outside a school that closed in July. While it's not as silly as it sounds - there's a nearby primary school and this was probably a popular route for those children to walk to school - she did initially seem to me to be a very sad and tragic figure, worthy of a sad little song.
- I did quite a bit of talking to the animals I met, which made me wonder quite how common such behaviour is. Normally, some of my talking to animals is clearly really just another way of talking to a nearby human. "Aren't you a handsome doggy!" can mean, "Hello, doggy's owner." "Hello, corvid! Are you a crow or a rook or a raven?" can mean, "Pellinor, look at that bird. What do you think it is?" But today I was entirely alone, yet still told a cow that it was very pretty, but should probably use less eyeshadow; told a smug bull that yes, his harem was indeed large and impressive; asked several gulls to confirm their identity; and told several caterpillars that they were very brown and fat anf furry, but did they really want to be wandering across the path the way they were?
I'd do a poll if I could think of what questions to include in it, but would be interested to hear when, if ever, people talk to animals, or flowers, or indeed inanimate objects.
Random observations and thoughts:
- I crossed a country road next to a bus stop called "Back of Beyond." There were no houses anywhere in sight, and I didn't find Beyond itself.
- I see more and more ravens every time I go out. I think they're planning a coup.
- My route took me on a public footpath that goes right through a hilltop golf course - not perhaps the most ideal juxtaposition for either walkers or golfers. The whole hilltop is a mass of strange earthworks and terracing, and is almost enough to make me wish for some hideous future catastrophe that wipes out all written records, so future archaeologists can be baffled.
- On the way home, I saw a lollipop lady on duty outside a school that closed in July. While it's not as silly as it sounds - there's a nearby primary school and this was probably a popular route for those children to walk to school - she did initially seem to me to be a very sad and tragic figure, worthy of a sad little song.
- I did quite a bit of talking to the animals I met, which made me wonder quite how common such behaviour is. Normally, some of my talking to animals is clearly really just another way of talking to a nearby human. "Aren't you a handsome doggy!" can mean, "Hello, doggy's owner." "Hello, corvid! Are you a crow or a rook or a raven?" can mean, "Pellinor, look at that bird. What do you think it is?" But today I was entirely alone, yet still told a cow that it was very pretty, but should probably use less eyeshadow; told a smug bull that yes, his harem was indeed large and impressive; asked several gulls to confirm their identity; and told several caterpillars that they were very brown and fat anf furry, but did they really want to be wandering across the path the way they were?
I'd do a poll if I could think of what questions to include in it, but would be interested to hear when, if ever, people talk to animals, or flowers, or indeed inanimate objects.
