"Last of the Summer Wine"

For the first time in weeks, the three of us were back in our walking gear.  It was an on again off again sun shiney day and so we trundled into an easy walk with minimal gear.  It became apparent that we wanted a low energy reconnect walk when we discovered that we had left cell phones or cameras behind.  What had once been a grand entrance is now a bit of relict woodland arching over a road nearly covered in moss.  It set the tone for a leisurely pace.

I stopped to talk to some beautiful young cattle in the field. I still miss being able to look out the window and see cattle there.  A walk through the steading reminded us that this is harvest time.  The grain piled into the silo.  The sound of the engine followed us along the paths into the fields past the road to the quarry--another walk for another day perhaps--and into a field where we had one of those long panoramas that big sky country provides--golden fields, green pastures, reddish reeds, peat cuts, and blue lochs.  We leaned on the gate, watched a couple deer leaping in and out of view in the pale grass beyond.  Linda commented we were like characters in the Last of the Summer Wine.  I could laugh without translation because I have seen some of these now old television programs.  A nodding acquaintance with popular culture makes it easier to laugh.  We lingered a while longer and then made our way back to the cars.

Sadly the three of us won't be walking again for some weeks.  We had a golden period in the summer when we walked nearly every week, but two of us will be able to manage a walk or two in Yorkshire mid October.  Both the walking/talking and the exploring are welcome to me, having never seen anything of England other than London. And then we'll be back to explore more of Caithness until the weather keeps us cocooned.