Outdoor Odysseys

A loss of interest?

Recent weather probably should have had me out and about, but other things have been weighing on my mind instead. Current political uncertainty is among these, as is the impact that my summertime trip to Canada had on my finances. Sorting them out is as much a priority as sorting out how my work arrangements might look in 2020. Thoughts of taking a longer stretch of time away from client work to develop the details are appealing ones.

Aside from a reluctance to embark on trips away from home, the effect on my relish for reading also is being felt. Currently, I am working my way through Christopher Somerville’s The January Man. This should be precisely the type of gentle reading that allows a break from the troubles of the world, but it appears to reveal a lack of enthusiasm for exploring the British landscape, so is it because I might be after new pastures? That is a thought to hold as I explore what world events might mean for me.

It probably also is opportune to survey the breadth of what I have been reading this year. Some have made for difficult reading, and this set includes an anthology of writing about Nepal that includes content from La.Lit magazine together with Dan Jones’ The Templars. There has been uplifting reading too, with Alastair McIntosh’s Soil and Soul being among them while contemplating a business proposal that could have deflected me from my own intentions. In the end, I rejected the latter in order to maintain the independence that I want to retain; saying no was a difficult thing for me to do.

All the while, there are trip reports that awaiting writing and photo galleries to be created or updated. As the hours of daylight shorten, there may be time for those much-needed diversions from news watching. There even may be scope for daylight wandering if I could lessen the weight that is dampening my spirit before a change of year provides even more of a release.