During the past week WPH and I have enjoyed four eye opening walks. Massive caves, supersoft lichen and fast flowing streams have all contributed to the sensory stimuli, as well as a friendly hound, two startled stampeding deer, a friendly grass snake and a stupendous black woodpecker. Nature has a way of being noticed here.
Yesterday's walk though, turned out to be longer than expected. Our friends A and P and their dog Tessa often join us and suggested a moderately challenging petite rondonee; challenging because it involved a steep climb down a valley to a river bed by a ruined mill and it also meant leaving one car at the start of the walk and a second at the finish. We were well prepared with sticks, following our confrontation with the stampeding deer earlier in the week, and went down the valley in single file. The path was narrowed by recent deluges and in some places deep gulleys had formed where stones had been washed away but the hip coped admirably. Safely down we crossed a river via wobbly stepping stones, passed uprooted fallen trees and saw wonderful ferns normally found in garden centres. Over the next hour there were frequent mini streams to stride over and muddy boggy patches to negotiate. Finally emerging back into sunlight, with a further mile to A's waiting car, I glanced down at my wrist to check the time on my watch. It was one of those stomach churning moments as I realised my watch was no longer where it should have been. What were we to do? Even Tessa was tired so you can imagine how the humans felt! We all decided food was essential and I tried to be philosophical about my loss as we eventually went our separate ways.Over lunch WPH and I discussed the options. We could try to forget the watch.... after all the odds of finding it were incredibly slim, or we could retrace our steps, without A and P and the use of their car and do the walk twice more. Parking our car at the finish we would walk to the start and then from the start to the finish again! Mmm, a difficult choice, on a warm sunny afternoon. But never ones to shirk a challenge you can guess which option we chose!
At 4.30pm our second walk began. We had to walk quite slowly with eyes down to stand the best chance of finding the watch. Our optimism waxed and waned as stones glinted in front of us. We recalled conversations of the morning as we passed various landmarks and of course the further we walked we reminded each other how the odds were lengthening. Never mind we thought, at least we had tried. Having finally reached the ruined mill we paused before the steep climb to the top of the valley. Imagine our surprise as an untidy looking black bird with a red crown to its head rose up in front of us, before flying to a nearby tree landing in the characteristic woodpecker pose. How I wished I hadn't left my camera behind. This is the best I can offer
Perhaps this was an omen? No, probably not we thought . Up the steep and gulley ridden path we climbed. Hot and tired we reached the start but still with no watch found. It was now 6.20pm. We had to brace ourselves for the descent, summoning up all our energy reserves. Halfway down WPH called out behind me 'hey, look at that!' I turned expectantly, to see him pointing to a motionless grass snake. We stood and watched as it gracefully slid quietly away. The ruined mill was approaching and the path, now seeming more familiar, was particularly tricky as we balanced on a grassy mound to avoid a deep rut. I glanced down to my left and there it was, glinting slightly.... MY WATCH. We were almost at the black woodpecker tree and after a congratulatory hug we decided that yes, the black woodpecker had undoubtedly been a lucky omen. We almost scampered home from that moment. With the watch safely in my pocket we knew the light in the wooded area was fading quickly. Reaching home at 8pm we relived the adventures of the lost and found watch and the highs and lows of our amazing day. The celebrations were pretty good too!
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