Day 104 of the End to End in 2019 begun with a calm and quiet crossing on the Nigg Ferry. I was the only passenger. I continued onto Nigg Church which houses the Nigg Stone, a Pictish Cross Slab which depicts the earliest known illustration of the eucharist in Britain. It was a quiet day’s walk to Tain airfield (disused).
Today in 2020 it’s day 4 of our TPT eastwards walk, this time starting from Braithwaite. The first three miles were straight along the New Junction Canal. There were some quiet reflections, lovely plants including wild watercress and some quiet black headed gulls.
Meanwhile Bob was finding it difficult to park at our first proposed point due to an angling competition. He went onto the second, but all this meant I actually walked further than him today. We met at Topham Ferry Lane (ferry no longer available) and made our way through a series of quiet lanes and paths.
We both remarked how quiet the walk was with very little traffic or other extraneous sounds. The flat countryside, mostly used for cereal growing, was doing what it does best: just letting time pass quietly.
From the remembered bible: Be still and know I am God.
As the Swans glide and the plants grow,
As the cereal crops push their way skywards,
As the clouds shuffle across the blue,
So I am glad for a still calm day and the quiet around me.
JAL 30.07.2020 TPT Eastwards, Braithwaite to Shearburn Plantation.