Walking

Over the summer walking our dogs has been squeezed in between assignments, often at the end of the day as a bit of a chore.

Today I needed to find some inspiration so after I had dropped Reef off at school I took the dogs up to our local wood.   Ours is a busy town with lots of commuters heading in to London and more coming in to WGC to work at places like Tesco’s HQ or Roche pharma.  It is too easy to forget how close we actually are to nature.

Sherrard’s Wood is located alongisde the A1 and is a real haven as well as being a wood of special scientific interest.  With the recent rain you can smell the dank earth that will soon be sprouting all kinds of mushrooms.  The leaves haven’t really started falling yet so it is lovely and green with the sun streaming through. There are scots pines, beech, birch, oak, sweet chestnut, hornbeam and other trees I don’t know.  We often meet other dog owners we know and do that oh so British thing – comment on the weather.

Walking helps me to think, to set my day in order and focus my mind.  Sometimes I find myself drafting a tricky sentence in my head and it’s often when I get my mad ideas. The dogs quite like it too.