Simple things....

Fresh air is a wonderful thing!

I love paths stretching ahead of me.
Maybe it's the sense of the unknown?

Like most of us my son Chris and I are practising our social distancing.  Which is fine, and we are very happy to do it.  But today we decided to take advantage of the advice to get some exercise in the open, while keeping a distance from others.

We put a highly excited dog in the car (he really doesn't seem to understand what is going on lately, can't think why) and set off for a walk on Mousehold Heath. It's a place we've driven past many times, but never stopped at.  And we had a fabulous hour.

There were more people than we expected, and we found ourselves stepping off the path on several occasions to give people their space, and others did the same for us. There were many smiles and friendly greetings, but a sense of the strangeness of all this really did hang over everything.  I have to admit that my dog George, along with all other four legged walkers totally failed in all social distancing, but he's an old dog and it's a new trick.  We will work on it.

Every day in Morning Prayer I say 'As we rejoice in the gift of this new day....'

It's easy to forget how much there is to rejoice in.  Life is usually so busy that we miss the small things.  Today I truly rejoiced in the sun on my face, the chance to stretch my legs, the laughter of my son, and the slight madness of my dog.  And the sheer beauty of the area in which I was walking.  From the sunlight dappled paths, to the sky with more than enough blue to make a pair of sailors trousers.  And even the fungus on the tree stump was beautiful with its intricate pattern.  It was impossible to not feel hopeful, despite all that is happening around us.

But I know for many, this afternoon will have brought anxious times of watching and waiting, stress in dealing with people in shops, and pressure working in the NHS and other critical services.  In an hour or so I will be saying Evening Prayer and I will remember all those whose afternoon was spent so differently to mine, and pray for God's blessing upon us all.