Autumn Bay

The view from Arnside Knott across Far Arnside and into the expanse of Morecambe Bay.  A still Autumn morning and the tide is high on a neap, leaving mudflats and creeks still exposed.  This is the point where Gus and I start to descend steeply on our way home for breakfast. 

This is the first blip in over three months.  I hadn't intended to stay away more than a couple of days.  Where does the time go?

Gus is well and still managing a walk over the hill and back, and so long as he is keen and able we will continue.  The early mornings are the best for the light and for seeing the deer and hares.  Soon the redwings will be arriving to take the yew berries, while most days now we are seeing skeins of pink-footed geese flying south as they arrive from Iceland.  Post-lockdown Arnside has been busier than ever before, and on weekends there are many people wandering through the woods and grasslands; but in the early mornings, there are just a few of us regulars.

I sense the walk will become all the more vital this next few months, an escape from the news and the rapid growth in Covid cases again.  A chance to pretend that all is right with the world, and affirmation that life in the natural world goes on beyond our human preoccupations.

This day we had a trip out to Grange to see Sue, socially distanced in her garden, in the warm sunshine enjoying soup and a catch-up.  Gus still looks for his best pal Rowan who died almost a year ago, and on a walk through the woods, he weaves closely behind Sue just like he does behind C.  

A good day.