Day 51 of the End to End in 2019 saw me clock over 500 miles altogether. There was still some way to go but it was a celebration so we had a doughnut. After wandering through Preston I got onto the Lancaster Canal. I’d be walking on it for several days and it was the last canal this side of the England/Scotland border.
Meanwhile in 2020, today was the longest walk for me since lock down started. It was a 10 mile walk in the Longdendale Valley on a beautiful, and not very busy day. Most days I walk nearer 2 miles but we’ve been trying to stretch our legs a bit more recently, locally of course. There’s a great network of paths in this valley so we are fortunate.
Bob’s butterfly counting app is really good. Last year I was noting them all down one at a time, now I can do it with one click on my phone (and yes I do know that Butterfly Conservation has one but it takes up more space and longer to record). Today I was able to identify 26 butterflies and 1 moth.
Once back home it was time to dream. The Bedford Enthusiasts club drew my attention to a 1971 Bedford Ice Cream van for sale on e-bay at £2,000 of so. What a wonderful addition it would make to the Mobile Chapel of St Scholastica. It could be the Refectory.
That’s only a dream, but walking the End to End was one dream that came true (and I ate a lot of ice cream).
From the remembered bible
There’s a lot of dreaming goes on. Jacob dreamt of a staircase at a time when there weren’t all that many. The safety of the baby Jesus when Herod set out to have him killed relied on dreaming. Then at the end of the Bible, John has a massive dream that goes on and on and includes quite a lot of weird stuff.
God of dreams and visions,
may we hold onto the good possibilities that our dreams suggest:
a place of safety for the refugee,
a time when crying and pain will be done.
Fire us up again, that we may move forward
towards safety, peace and justice.
JAL: 27.05.2020 in Longdendale.