Sunday Satisfaction

 

Even without my Husband/Coach/Bestie I managed to get up on time this morning. I am not noticing any sign of withdrawal symptoms after a only few days of cutting my coffee intake down to two cups per day instead of what was probably something like start with two cups and then one every hour until about 4pm usually. I have also hit the wine on the head too, but that is not such a big deal as the coffee because I am a bit of a lightweight by some drinkers standards. I enjoy the first glass which is taken with dinner and would quite often have a second upon settling into the armchair for a couple of episodes of some box set or other before bedtime. That would be it though a third glass would get left even if it was poured. I used to only have a couple of glasses at the weekend or if we were out with family or friends. Alas along with current trends, that intake had grown to a glass most evenings. Apart from having a mug of fancy tea to pick up instead of a dainty glass, I am not feeling any different but I think the wine certainly adds to the calorie count, so it is off limits for a while. The idea is that once I have lost the weight that I am fighting; a weekend glass can be restored but not a nightly glass. Returning to the fact of my being a lightweight, in drinking terms anyway, I think it is a good move. It will not be opposed by Steve with the anti social argument because he doesn’t drink alcohol at all.

 

The major treat of my Sunday, occurred when I turned off the A24 at the sign for Blakehurst, where our run starts about a mile along that lane. This morning, just after the turn I had to slow down because there was an unusual display on the wildlife front. It is not uncommon to see a little deer of two crossing that lane through the woods both sides of the road, but today there was a herd of dear little deer. They were everywhere and so I just sat in the car to allow them to continue on whichever path the leaders decided upon.

As they slowly popped of so prettily into the woodland, I moved forward and had to stop again, because there were more of them a little further along.

 When they eventually disappeared through the trees I resumed my drive toward the place just off the road where I park. Yet another nature holdup was in progress about half a mile further where there were dozens, maybe a hundred, pheasants flapping this way and that in their usual headless chicken antics, apparently brainlessly rushing around and at first I couldn’t make it out until I saw the Fox! At about this time of year the gamekeepers release thousands of pheasants, and I mean thousands, and many thousands at that, ready for the winter shoots for which the wealthy folk pay a lot of money for what they find a pleasurable way to spend the weekend; shooting game birds that have been driven toward them by a group of beaters. The cost of the day is high, but they can afford it and only get to take a brace home with them.

 

A fox can go hungry when there are so many birds running about making such an inviting racket, purely because they (the fox that is) don’t know which one to chase because it is all so much fun, they kill for fun as well as food. The fox this morning did get his breakfast, and got it for free, after it had been so carefully raised in captivity, to be shot.

 

Gamekeepers cottages in the woods

 

I was late for the start of my run today because of the holdups. However, it was not the last piece of wildlife antics I was to witness today, since when I got to my normal parking place I reversed the car up next to a larger vehicle in which a young couple were making love; the car was running the heater, presumably because it was quite a chilly morning to be experimenting with what exactly can be done on the back seat of the car, without actually freezing to death. Although I made a poor pretence of not noticing their antics; it is actually quite difficult, (I was going to say hard but chose another word) when a car is rocking so violently. It was broad daylight and at a point where three lanes and a footpath meet. There are so many secluded paths around that spot where they would not have been seen at all, Lovers Lanes galore.

 

 

 

I started off in on my run about five minutes late and that meant that my friend who starts her run later since she is faster, caught me sooner than she normally does. We spoke about the car park couple and my friend asked me why I thought they had the car running and when I gave my ‘chilly morning’ response, she remarked that they were then, not being enthusiastic enough about their activities.

 

 

 

 

 

Once my friend had passed me by, I worked hard not to be left too far behind her, otherwise she would have a long wait for me at the end before we could carry on for a chat at the tea shop afterwards. My run time was very pleasing for me since I ran the same time as Steve and I together have been doing, even with the fact that ‘While the Cats Away’ I stopped to take twenty three photos altogether (Not of the young couple of course). Once I reached the highest point I ran faster than usual on the downhill and caught up with her where she normally stops to put her shoes back on….. Yes, she runs barefoot, winter and summer, on all of the off road sections, which is about two thirds of the run route. Maybe it’s the way the mud squelches up between her toes.

 

 

I conclude with this thought: Lovers on a hillside, are they romantically inclined?