Lakeland Dipper

Ritual bathing and burning
I suspect dad didn’t expect some of the mountains of wood that he’d stored in his garage to be lugged up a Cumbrian mountain and burnt.

It was a very wet morning so I made an apple cake with the apples given to me by my elderly neighbour (not the crazies where the police have now intervened). Then I did a Stonehenge re-enactment trying to move impossibly heavy stuff and then the sun put in an appearance so I had it in mind to see the chaps and set off to give the poor old damp van a run.

It was glorious up there (first extra) but someone was camped up at my usual place so I pushed on to a spot I’ve been going to for 30 years and never seen a soul in all that time. The beck was in full spate but fine for a lively dip followed by a beer and a snack by the fire. I headed back down to say cheerio to the chaps as the sun was going down (second extra). Time and time again I think of Thoreau and Walden.

https://poets.org/poem/smoke-0