Cote Moors

Ooops!

It was a weird and lovely moment when I logged in here after being offline for the weekend and became inundated with notifications. Thank you for so many kind words. I had no idea I was reaching a milestone. Although these yearly blipverseries lose their meaning once you stop posting every day, the fact that it passed me by completely is an indication of the extent to which I've withdrawn myself from the wider social world. I've taken on social distancing in a far more literal way than most people! 

It was rather disconcerting to realise that I've now got over a year of my life missing in terms of blips. Where did all those days go? In the beginning, many of those holes were down to being in the wrong frame of mind to post, not wanting to commemorate days of my life that were best forgotten. At least, that's how it felt at the time - not having kept a daily record, it's hard to recall now where my head was back then. All I know is that it's in a rather different place at the moment.

This last week has seen the most perfect spell of weather I think I can ever remember. Dazzlingly clear visibility and ideal temperatures for exercise. We've seen none of the haze and oppressiveness that high pressure usually brings in the summer months. I've been making the most of being in this surreal state of 'unlockdown' with Forrest. We've been travelling short distances to quiet spots in the Dales to walk and run, barely encountering anyone else.

It's given me the most enormous pleasure to share my favourite hills and valleys with my eldest son and witness him find his bearings and kindle his own love for the landscape here and the physical challenges it presents. More and more, I see the father in the son! That actually applies to both my boys - in different ways. My eldest seems to reflect one half of my personality. My youngest reflects the other half. The poor kids!

As a proper celebration of having eight years' worth of blips, here's a black and white landscape from our expedition today. Nine years ago, it was a few blippers here that inspired me with their monochrome photography and taught me how to see the landscape in a whole new way. Thank you to them and thank you to everyone who still bothers to look in on me. I'm incredibly grateful. Once the weather breaks, I will have to do a bit of catching up.