Into the woods…. Again and again.

 

Losing an hour tells us summer will start

here and now as the days stretch longer

a little warmth wouldn’t go amiss as the sun

makes maximum effort to grow stronger.

It was actually still quite dark when Steve and I started our run this morning, we could just about make out the path in front of us, so we walked for the first ten minutes to avoid stumbling on the uneven ground. Slowly, ever so slowly, it became lighter. Every day now the dawn will be earlier and so we will continue to set our alarm clock back a moment or two more to make sure that we reach our start point, just that little bit before daybreak to avoid meeting other early risers.

This morning the woods were perfectly still after blowing their hearts out fit to bust yesterday with a cruel northeast blast. I had returned to winter running kit of three layers instead of the two I had been running in; a thin cycling shirt, a thermal half zip lycra top and a Gortex running coat. My hair in a top knot and a warm fleece lined bobble hat. Even a pair of fleece gloves did not prevent the ends of my fingers suffering with the cold.

The star prize gained from so early an outing was that again, there were groups of deer darting across our path or through the woods; all of them this morning wore dark coats although two days ago we did spot a white one. There are pubs in the countryside called The White Hart but you have to be lucky to spot these, since they are few. I had spotted the white one, that was with a dark companion but by the time I had shouted ‘Stop’ to Steve as we drove to our start point, he had fumbled in his coat pocket for the phone camera they had both darted into cover. Darn.

The rest of the wild life report for today was a little Yellowhammer that lives in a hedge along the way, that we often see and hear, popping up to say a perky hello, then just a couple of rabbits. The most stunning occurrence was the sudden loud shriek of some still sleepy little creature, probably a pheasant due to them being bred for shooting and therefore being brain dead as far as wildlife survival skills are concerned, it was killed by… I suppose a fox, they are on the prowl at all hours in search of food (or actually just for fun) and it was far too early for the lazy Red Kites. The ruckus sounded close, on such a still morning but we saw nothing of it.

Although the woodlands gradually grew lighter with the dawn the longer we were out there, running the transformation into full glorious colour took time and we were half a mile from our car before the sun majestically rose to take full command of the illuminations.     

Where we go to run is close to where our ailing business stands. I say ailing, but for the present it is quite dead, since most of our clients are from elsewhere on our stricken planet. The largest group is from the USA and the last to visit to buy antiques were from Australia, Africa, Tasmania and Malta too. All future journeys have been postponed, probably until the autumn or even next year. So tight now, when we have completed out run, we can quickly check that all is in order and pick up any business mail before returning home.

Once indoors in the warm, we continue with the rest of the incarceration management exercise programme. We are settled into daily Tai Chi that brings numb fingers back to a comforting tingling life. Then a stretch session before yoga today.

Our little cat Birdy doesn’t like the Tai Chi at all and goes immediately away, out of the room whilst we engage it that part of our activities. That’s intriguing isn’t it? She comes in to join anything else but prefers the floor exercises which for her, involves biting my hair whenever she can and lying is silly positions as if showing off her superior flexibility.  

The photo at the top of me performing a headstand, shows how far from the truth the expression, ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’, is. Well ok, it is a trick that I have not attempted to do for over fifty years, which goes to clearly show that if over the years you have lost a degree of your youthful flexibility; with daily gentle practice, inch by half a centimetre, you can earn back at least a degree of the movement that you thought you had lost long ago. 

Still on the theme of using this disease ridden time and to give the brain and/or the body a good shake up. The poem below comes from a challenge I threw out to our poetry group at what was to be our last meeting for some considerable time. In fact, I posted my version of this exercise not many days ago when I included a challenge that I had set myself some years ago by choosing a well known poem, taking the pattern, piece by piece and inserting words that fitted my mood at the time. Mine was Steve’s Smiths astonishing, Not Waving But Drowning. Then making it fit the fact that my hips had changed form after a period with two limbs in plaster as they repaired form an accident. Mine was called Not Limping but Frowning.  Sorry Stevie.

  Glenda Jackson here as Stevie Smith

So here I present the first of my friends who rose to the challenge. She has retired from triathlon, which was how we met, she now still works her body, and other peoples since she is a physio therapist and her main sport now is Paddling her canoe along rivers and lakes.  She found a new talent after being press-ganged into joining Scribblers a year or so ago.

 Good effort my friend, I really enjoyed this. Don’t know what Rudyard Kipling would say but I am sure he will be smiling broadly from his seat in Heaven.  Having seen Glenda Jackson play the title role in Hugh Whitemore's West End play, Stevie, she might not take my wrecking on that poem quite so well.  

If - Apologies to Rudyard Kipling, a brave and amusing rewrite exercise by Elaine Scott.

If you can keep your head, when all about you,

are loosing theirs, and blaming it on to you.

If you & your family can manage to self isolate,

without continuously arguing about your fate.

If you can trust Boris to be effective,

when even he has tested positive.

If you can wait outside in the supermarket queue,

keeping your 2 metre distance true.

If you can avoid listening to lies or fake news,

even if Trump always seems to.

If you can keep up with the sound advice,

Yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.

If you can train yourself to wash your hands,

singing Happy Birthday twice through.

If you can avoid touching nose, mouth or eyes,

and learn to cough and sneeze into your elbow.

If you are worried about your futures,

and watch the things you gave y0ur life to, broken.

Stoop & build them up with worn out tools,

and leave the fears in your mind unspoken.

If you are worried about your family & friends,

a call, a text or a Skype is now the trend.

A cheery wave, across the street,

a note through the door, will be such a treat.

If you can find joy in your daily outside exercise,

fun with the kids on their bikes & scooters will be no surprise.

Spring is here, Ciarra & Dennis long forgotten,

A new found fitness regime, can only blossom.

If this proud nation, observes the law,

scientists promise the Corona virus will withdraw.

Leaving our NHS, greatly strengthened,

Always ready in the future to defend us.

28.03.20