Outdoor Discoveries

Clearance

This year, the Easter period for me has been filled with decluttering of my house and reorganisation of what is inside of it. In part may have been encouraged by the mixed weather that we have been getting for much of the last twelve months, let alone the last few weeks. There appears to be no real break coming on that front, so it was just as well that I took a chance on a mid-Wales trip at the start of March.

That did have some sunshine at times, which is what tempted me to base myself in Aberystwyth for a few days. The first full day allowed for coastal ambling, firstly around Aberystwyth itself (taking in Penparcau) and then south along the coast as I walked back from Borth.

The next day saw me head inland for a hike that took in Pumlumon Fawr and Bwlch Nant-yr-Aran. The wind was not only cold but also brutal in strength, so I did not dally on the tops. It was only dogged determination or perhaps foolish stubbornness that propelled me to the top of Pumlumon Fawr in the conditions.

The air had been clearer with some sunshine to brighten my surroundings, somewhat justifying the exertion of willpower. On the way back from Ponterwyd, the bus driver was wondering what I was doing out and about on such a cold day, only to laugh when I told him that the real problem was the strength of the wind. The skies were greyer as I started my return home, yet I was not disappointed with what I had got.

Since then, there has been a broadband upgrade in advance of all the domestic alterations that I have been making. Charity shops have been beneficiaries of all this clearance, and the restrictions on bin capacity meant that getting rid of any waste proved challenging without access to a car. The added clearance makes all the effort worthwhile, though. Some new pieces of furniture have replaced old ones too, and a spot of painting brightened some walls in its own way. While progress has been good, there is more to do.

That may wait, though, since my mind is turning to excursions should weather windows offer. A walk on Ben Ledi near Callander is a tempting idea, as is a brief visit to Paris that uses rail travel to get there and back. Other French destinations may be later possibilities, like North American escapades to Portland in Oregon or Seattle in Washington State.

Thinly spread

There is a saying or proverb in the Irish language that becomes the following when translated into English: the sandpiper cannot attend to two beaches. This and other pieces of wisdom are to be found in The Little Book of Celtic Mindfulness. In fact, the title likely is a misnomer, at least to me, for wisdom fits the contents better than mindfulness, though the greater fashionability of the latter possibly won out in this case.

As someone who has divided his life between different places for so long, the phrase with which I open this piece resonates more easily with me. With family remaining in Ireland and work taking me to the U.K., there always has been a sense of there being different shores. Add explorations across two different continents to the mix, and you very easily can end up without a sense of permanent abode.

Maybe that is one meaning of the Christian wisdom about gaining the world only to lose one’s soul, even if the idea of pilgrimage is baked into that tradition as well. Sometimes, too much application of logic and reason to the ways of life can show you that nothing retains self-consistency, no matter how hard you try.

There is something ongoing in my life at the moment that reinforces the opening point. It causes me to remain focussed on that, so I cannot go further afield, Nevertheless, there remain opportunities for wandering that I can take, and their descriptions may follow at another time. Whenever the weather offers, my body goes wandering too.

Thinking back to last year, my wandering took me to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, France and California. This is quite unlike the pandemic years that grounded me in my local area, allowing for many deeper explorations. That is being rested these days when I can see other parts. North America remains tempting, as does seeing more of Scotland. Other places may feature yet because life’s plans cannot be set in the stone. The explorations continue.

A spot of refinement

A matter in Ireland weighed heavily on my mind for longer than expected until its recent completion. There are others to follow, but I hope that their execution will not prove to be so injurious to my emotions. There is more letting go to be done before burdens are relinquished.

None of that helped with my taking advantage of any fleeting episodes of dry, sunny weather that came our way since the start of the year. That there were a lot of grey, outcast days too meant that I never got to feeling too badly about what was left to pass. It is all very unlike this time last year when I embarked on a Pennine walking project in and around Marsden.

None of this stopped me from refining some of the content that got on here, though. Photos got enlarged, many posts had their writing improved, and some early redundant posts were removed. The photo overhaul took quite a lot of time since there are so many of them, even if it also was an automation project of sorts.

Now, I am starting to think ahead a bit more as the rain falls outside the window. Easter is coming, so my mind starts to ponder possibilities for a much-needed getaway, and there may be time for another one in May. Those aforementioned matters will take me to Ireland again and again, so that might add more walking opportunities too. It feels a bit premature to start thinking of trips to other parts of the world yet, but that cannot be discounted either.

Fatigue

It is amazing how a matter can play on your mind and weigh you down. There has been one of those pressing on me over the last few weeks. Thankfully, I have found a way of moving things along that sets the scene for the start of 2023. All are happy, which is the main thing.

The same thing cannot be said for all the strikes that are happening at the moment. It feels as if everyone is on strike and that this is the new winter of discontent. The weather probably is not helping moods either, but the main reason is the state of the economy right now. Christmas is set to see transport, healthcare and postal industrial actions. Quite why they are not giving everyone else some respite astonishes me.

Maybe it is a certain lack of progress. That is how it feels with one matter that I have ongoing; a tradesman is failing to complete things for me, and this is not leaving things in a great state. The time of year is not helping either, and there is always the way that the end of a year feels like a deadline.

All of this means that walking trips have not happened since the second Scottish outing happened in September. The cause is preoccupation rather than lethargy, which also can strike at this time of year. It all has caused fatigue too, so I am hoping for a restful Christmas break where I can recharge myself.

There were ambitions for a mid-winter getaway, but these have been shelved. There was such a trip to Mallorca in 2016, and I had not realised how worn out I must have been. The pandemic has made me more self-aware, so that helps. What once might have been attributed to colds and flu now get seen as fatigue, and I heed the signs accordingly.

Before I decided against them, I was looking at the possibility of spending some time in either the Azores or Madeira. Air fares were expensive and flights from Manchester were not that frequent either. Going elsewhere might have got me away from a general state of depression, only for other preoccupations to thwart this. With all the strikes, that probably is just as well.

2023 may not be the year of possibility that 2022 was, but it still offers a fresh start. Only time will tell what that means. The current state of affairs surely cannot be sustained, and we all need a lift. Let’s see what comes.

Why write?

Over the last few weeks, it may have been that I found the act of writing a piece cathartic. Admittedly, it helps if you are recalling a different time, as I am doing on my transport website at the moment. Then, there are the things that I have been adding to my technology website as well.

There are plenty of reasons for needing an escape. It appears that life is full of industrial relations disputes at the moment, with rail, airport, postal and healthcare staff all being in dispute with their employers regarding pay increases and other working conditions. It also has been a change of commencing a dramatic changeover in my Irish business holdings. Because others are involved, that weighs on my mind too.

A few of the these mean that I am fatigued, so outdoor outings are less likely, and the weather has not been that promising either, even if it is sunny outside at the moment while others worry about heating and other costs of living. It all means that I am looking forward to an end of year break lasting several weeks that allows me to recharge myself. Like the last few years, this will be a staycation at home, with possible day outings that have not come to mind yet. Transport strikes will constrain getaways for me anyway.

There also is a long backlog of trip reports that I can add here as well. A lot of these convey my mind to different and happier times, which also helps. Some are pre-pandemic, while others take me to other parts of the world. After those, there are photos to add from recent trips to Ireland.

All this activity gets me away from the current times for a while, and allows any troubling feelings and thoughts to fade away. This kind of apparent escapism may be frowned upon in Buddhism, since it might take one away from full presence in the here and now, but mindfulness offers its own forms of refuge. Christianity has its refuges as well, and they are much needed right now. Brighter times will arrive; for now, we need to have patience and forbearance. Things need to flow; and a gentler flow of recollections is better than a torrent of worries.