Walking

So recently I have been doing a lot of walking. I have always liked to walk actually, and I am the only one in my household that ever takes my dog a walk. Since I have left school I have made it a habit to walk nearly everyday which I have generally stuck to. I was flicking through my diary earlier and since the 22nd May (which is when school ended) I have been on a walk with people 9 times. It's a bit strange I suppose to say, I went on a walk today, because we walk everywhere, but a specific walk for no other purpose than to well... walk really is the best type.

I suppose I am really lucky because the village I live in is a lovely place to walk. Last summer I spent so much time in a field named by us villagers as 'the top of the world' contemplating and I never got bored, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. I have a picture which I shall post below, but you can never quite appreciate the beauty of a view until you've clambered up the hill to get there and seen it with your own eyes.

It's a rubbish picture to be honest, I took it on my previous phone and only looking at it now do I realise how crap it actually looks on here, but it is one of my favourite places in the world and I only have to walk 5 minutes from my house to get there. 

Another place which I absolutely love is Peckwash, a secluded spot in between 2 villages, about 20 minutes walk away from me. Last summer I spent a lot of time there, mucking about with friends, paddling in the river, chatting, soaking up the occasional english rays. It's just so pretty.

Slightly better picture, but still can't quite appreciate how lovely it is unless you're there.

The other 2 are photos of me and friends last Summer, ahhh good times.

Tonight I went for a walk with an old friend in another village near me, a 5 minute drive away. I honestly think it's one of the best ways to spend time with someone, just walking, chatting, appreciating the space. It sounds like I am a woman on the brink of retirement but I'm honestly not! I just think walking is great. I actually managed to pass my driving test in April this year - everyone knows people who pass 4th time are the best drivers (!) - but I still haven't succumbed to driving everywhere, and to be honest, I don't think I will. Walking the dog after school was one of the only ways I stayed sane, having that time on my own to think and just be out of the house and get some exercise at the same time. Walking with friends is equally nice, especially when they appreciate the surroundings. If more people made time to walk, I'm sure people would be more at peace ha, might seem a little crazy but it certainly works for me. It was the perfect end to a less productive day, only managing bits of revision and being visited by a friend who delivered me a new top and a CD, I love inheriting her clothes. It's pretty sad actually, she's almost 2 years younger, but I am still smaller than her so I get her hand me downs! They are lovely clothes though so I shan't complain.

Walking has also inspired me to write some of my poems, in particular, one I named 'Exploration under Aryan's Belt' after a midnight walk with a friend where we stared into the sky, loosing our thoughts among the stars. So here it is.

Exploration Under Aryan's Belt

Silence, found within a metaphor

Words on a page, a wing catching flight

through floundering thoughts in restless night

When you stand back to admire the scene,

it's nothing more than a libertine dream.

Silence, must be a sound to find

Hear it only in my mind.

When all is quiet, but silent not

far away a painful show,

a heavenly song thanks to a swallows beak

crumbling toffee in a child's cheek

This simple idea makes little sense

silence never entered out presence

Past, future, endless time

this tranquil theme is just a rhyme.

Search for that inquisitive light

yet silence won't be found in sight

If it is to be discovered at all, 

maybe within a clouded fall,

or blinded by the garish sun,

just journey to where the world begun.

I remember now reading it again, what we had been talking about as we came up to the park after our walk. How it is actually never silent. So that is what is explored in this poem really, amongst other things.

Walking. Do it. Make time for it. It's not just a simple movement to get us from A to B, hopefully one day I shall travel, walk and experience places even more breathtaking than the beauty I find so close to home.