Contemplative Inquiry

For the first time since I fractured my shoulder in a heavy fall, I have walked beside the Gloucester canal. The period between 2pm and 4.30 on 28 October was particularly auspicious. Cool but clear. Blue sky and sunshine.

On this occasion, as I tentatively walked the paths, I found myself in a living world dominated by yellow and green. A fall was happening, but was not very advanced. I noticed my confidence in walking becoming  more consistent and reliable. I felt good. I was at ease in the woodland world.

The walk was part of my coming to terms with an advancing age, in which   the possibility of a damaging fall is priced in. I felt a little nostalgic for a distant past. At a time when I was impatiently looking forward to my fourth birthday I fell down a flight of stairs and simply got up again. I was pleased to have a story to tell my parents, but  couldn’t understand their alarm when I told it. 1953 is indeed another country.

However most of my attention, on this walk, was on the walk itself. Pragmatically, it needed to be, and I was also  increasingly held by the spirit of place and time on this benign late October day. I had a strong sense of here, now and home.

I had a goal of reaching a newly refurbished bridge for pedestrians and cyclists only. This would give me time to turn around and get home before sunset (roughly 4.45 now that the clocks have changed). A slowish two and a half hours is as much as I can manage as yet. From a recovery perspective, I feel on track.