And how we laughed when she told us in a slightly amused way that Vindolanda was actually a Roman fort and was not on the wall at all. She very kindly shared with us the name of a car park not far away where we would be able to see the wall but no, there was no wall where we were.
The emotions from some images lingered long past the purchase of the photobook and the conclusion of the conversation and experience.
I didn't know him well, not really, just someone that I would come into contact with on a reasonably frequent basis. Not a friend as such.
And I wondered how I should feel, being called an old man by someone that appeared twenty years my senior.
So this year, rather than dwelling on the moments that have challenged my resilience, and there have been and continue to be many, it feels as if I should find reason to put my focus elsewhere.
And they shape us, these things that might have happened. The stories we repeat and twist and embellish, they grow old and become real and stick there, putting down roots and feeding our minds.
I choose to believe in empty roads and quiet, weekday escapes and low-key delicious adventures.
Because they are human and we are all varying degrees of the same thing. People looking for patterns and trying to justify our existence.
We found ourselves flagging just a little at this stage and took the very sensible step of chatting to the owner of a boat, moored at Berney Arms for some fishing, and begging a top up of our water bottles.
We took our time looking at some beautiful large properties along this path (how can people afford such wonderful homes?) and found our first delightfully empty country lane.
These lanes were very quiet and enjoyable to walk along in the pleasant sunshine. We grabbed a couple of pears from a box in front of a cottage, left out for travelers, and ended up scrumping from an apple tree hanging over the road.
However our well practiced looks of confusion managed to attract the attention of a very friendly woman who walked the first 10 minutes or so with us.
When you first meet him you just know that he is decent and kind. He genuinely wants to know how you are and asks questions, actively listening to everything that you share with him.
It’s like a vast, seemingly never-ending, area of scrubland. Rough, mostly flat, with some areas of nothingness and little vegetation. Other parts are full of thick undergrowth and trees, so dense that you just cannot see what, if anything, is lurking just a few metres away from the track.
“The absolutely incredible night sky in the desert. I had been warned that I would not believe what I saw and this was completely true.. The sky was just FULL of light.”
We find our inspiration where we can in life, when it hits us or when we stumble across it..
Today I was hit.
A movie, no less, reminded me what I already knew, I think, but needed to remember,
And wildness, at its basic and unreconstructed finest, becomes ever more attractive every time that voice of sanity echoes around my head.
I am more than the weight of all the opportunities that I didn't take or maybe didn't even notice.
