Well, we made it to Eastbourne last night - the last stage in our long slog from Winchester over the past 9 days! We've had rain, glorious views over incredible beauty, met some wonderful people, both natives as well as fellow walkers. We've walked tenderly around herds of very big cows, lots & lots of sheep, a few horses, through an unexpected pig farm and across the tops of many, many high-topped Downs, used since Bronze Age times as forts, signal lights and defense.
Along the way, each of us were also met and challenged by self-doubt and walk-threatening pains and injury. There was a time back in Amberley and th open again in Lewes where Sam really doubted if his right foot and ankle were badly injured. This was the total replacement done in 2014 and the doc warned it might need further work. Was this the time?
It's only four months since Joan collapsed whilst walking in Florida; only six since she had her knee replaced. Was this the long hard hill climb that would trigger that "tightness" in her chest again? Was that tingle in her knee the start of something more? The nagging doubts that rise from deep in our secret catalogue of fear can erode a sense of purpose and ruin sleep so easily. But we talked our fears though with each other and decided that "the worst thing that could happen" wasn't so bad once brought out into the open sunlight of discussion between two people who trust each other implicitly. So we kept walking and here we are.
I'm writing these blogs on a smartphone but our Wi-Fi connections are usually not very strong, so it's tough to upload pictures to go with the writing. When we get home we'll do more.
No comments:
Post a Comment