On day 15 of the End to End I was walking through my favourite kind of countryside: lanes with hedges, woods with edges and all the beautiful wildlife found in such places. There are many sayings about LEJOG and one of the more obvious ones is ‘It’s not a sprint’ (unless you are actually sprinting it of course!).
I wasn’t sprinting but, much to my surprise, I was getting up each morning and walking 10 miles or so. That I did so for 117 days still amazes me. I’m not known for being at my best in the mornings. But LEJOG was highly motivating, fascinating and made me feel good.
Each day of this lock down I do value going outside and making my way long lanes with hedges and woods with edges and seeing all the wild life right here in Derbyshire. The Peak District National Park was designated in 1951 and the chain of reservoirs in the Longdendale valley were built in the middle of the 19th century. In the last few days I’ve seen many butterflies, including the first green hairstreaks I’ve very seen.
Dealing with this Pandemic is not a sprint either, although clearly it can be very demanding in different ways for different people. Let’s take it one step at a time. It’s taken 7 months to get my Bambi camper van on the road again, and just now we can’t go anywhere, but we’re ready when we get the chance.
From the remembered gospel
Jesus said: ‘I’m going back to Galilee, I’ll meet you there.
Met us where we are, God of all:
in favourite or challenging places,
may we make space for you,
may all life flourish.
JAL: 16.04.2020