He descended into hell….
Red earth shows through in the harrowed fields. Knobbly beech hedges line the roads, branches meeting cathedral like above my head. In places, ancient lanes wind between the sharp valleys, some are stoney tracks, others deep in last year’s leaf fall. It proves to be an amazing day. The not so silent earth is vibrating with the call of various creatures. Two woodpeckers keep up a tattoo drumming through the woods.
Each lane bears its own decorations: dandelion in one, bluebells in another, primrose and violet still making a show.
Lambs bleat from behind the hedges, running off as I approach. I regularly surprise pheasants who in turn surprise me with their strident alarm cry as they fly up ahead of me leaving the odd feather as witness by the roadside. Orange-tip and speckled wood dance along beside me.
The rural silence can be noisy too until the top of the last rise, when waiting to catch my breath from the steep climb, I look up and see two buzzards silently circling through the bluest blue.
After that one more dodgy stile and it’s downhill to Wiveliscombe and days end in a small town where even the post box wears whimsical Easter decorations. That was Day 19 and another 10 miles further on.
Meanwhile we are waiting…
Every molecule,
Every cell,
Is rearranged.
Every vessel,
Every organ
Is reanimated.
Coming back
Was hard work.
As Spring pushes up
We can only imagine
What it took to burst
The gates of hell
And rise again.
JAL 20.04.2019
Day 19 of the End to End, Bury (near Dulverton) to Wiveliscombe.