Day 69 of the End to End in 2019 started again at Greenbogue farm, east of Dumfries. We’d had a day off yesterday for a side trip to Whithorn, a place linked with St Ninian and the rise of Christianity in Northern Britain. It’s a fascinating place and includes some lovely examples of stone crosses.
Today was a quiet walking day, except for a mass of hungry caterpillars by the road side. The Hungry Caterpillar is still my favourite book.
Our lunch break was at the Red Chapel at Dalswinton. This church in kit form was erected for the estate workers and still makes a joyful splash in the forest. It was one of several small ‘tin chapels’ (as they were called) that we saw on LEJOG. Most were green, but this one was red.
Nearby was the Dalswinton Journey Garden, an installation well worth a visit and very restful. It includes a stone labyrinth you can ‘walk’ with your fingers. I’ve made many labyrinths: from scarves in the school chapel, from sand and pebbles on the beach at Lindisfarne, and I’ve visited quite a few both indoors and out. This quote on the stone at Dalswinton is still worth thinking about in 2020:
Look where you have been,
View where you are at,
Seek where you want to be
Today I started up Bambi, the Mobile Chapel of St Scholastica, again after several weeks. I’m really hoping for a trip somewhere in the next couple of months. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Keeping safe and moving about maybe quite a challenge.
The labyrinth is both inward leading and outward seeking, as you walk first in one direction and then another. It’s a good thought for a balanced life: inward leading, outward seeking.
From the remembered bible: May I walk in God’s ways.
Like the caterpillars on their journey of transformation,
may we too be changed:
seeking you, speaking of you,
walking with you, talking with you,
filled with you, stilled by you.
May we keep balanced and tread gently on the earth.
JAL: 22.06.2020 in Longdendale.