I haven't felt like undertaking garden chores and the amount of walking I have done has been negligible compared with most Augusts. Consequently, my stamina seems much reduced. To walk miles you must keep walking week in and week out. Use it or lose it - I am very aware of that particular piece of wisdom.
Anyway, today I thought I would test myself out with a circuit I have plodded many times before in the last thirty five years. This time I remembered to take some garden clippers and a saw. I needed the latter to tackle a small tree that has bent over the path by Redcar Brook. It had become an annoying obstacle.
Clint was parked in Shorts Lane by 1.30pm. With boots tied, I was off on a walk I know like the back of my hand. For variety, sometimes I do it in a clockwise direction and sometimes it's anti-clockwise - like today.
Climbing up through the woodland on Lenny Hill, I kept stopping to catch my breath. There was no need to overtax myself. On many past occasions, I have slogged up that hill without stopping but not today.
I took a few pictures and the last one is of my saw as I took a break while clearing the obstruction. The sawing was not too onerous but it left a heavy weight to manoeuvre (American: maneuver) to the side of the path. I felt happy to have made the going a little easier for other walkers who pass that way. I also clipped back a lot of brambly briars, slender branches and holly.
Incidentally, I noticed that Redcar Brook has almost run dry - proving that there has been very little rain in the last month.
Healthwise, I am hoping that September will be kinder to me. I am supposed to be meeting up with my old friend Tony next week for a much longer walk in virgin territory - perhaps at the north end of The Lincolnshire Wolds.
Thanks for the photo of that wall, Neil! I think I always comment about how fond I am of those walls of stone. A lovely walk and a good start to getting your stamina back! Take it a little at a time and you will be back to your old self soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellen. I am glad you call it a wall and not a fence like some of your compatriots!
DeleteLove the old and new houses!
ReplyDeleteYou are an architecture nerd Bob!
DeleteI'm sorry to hear you are still feeling worn down, YP. It's not just covid that can do a number on our respiratory systems, as you are aware. Slow and steady as you heal. Good of you to make the path easier to navigate.
ReplyDeleteI have meant to bring along on saw many times in the past but yesterday I remembered! Not many people walk that path but those who do will have a nice surprise.
DeletePlease take care of yourself, my brother!!! Go find out why you are feeling so "punk". Maybe you worked too hard redoing the back garden?? Get a check up!!! And a blood test!! Get a check up!!!!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Farhad and I planned a camping trip to Canada that was supposed to take six weeks. We got very sick with COVID after about 10 days in Canada and had to return to the U.S. Ever since, we have been so tired and Farhad, at least, needs a nap in the afternoon. Which is VERY out of the ordinary.
I have asked for a health check at our local health centre and am awaiting an appointment. There seem to be a lot of funny ailments out there these days.
DeleteNice of you to saw the tree but take care of yourself, YP. And take care. Rest easy between your outings and get your strength back. You have many out here who care about you. And that's as damned maudlin as I will be! 😍
ReplyDeleteThank you Dr Taylor. I will heed your advice.
DeleteMaybe just the flip side of turning 70?
ReplyDeletePersonally I find going gently a more relaxing approach than raging.
But hope all the same that you will prove for the time being to be the Once and Future King.
That pruned tree limb (when I got to the picture) was much more substantial than I had anticipated.
It was a fairly big trunk but it sawed quite easily. "Raging"? Like "Raging Bull"?
DeleteI hope the malaise you are suffering is soon cleared up.
ReplyDeleteUsually I am through a virus in a week but not this time Red.
DeleteYou passed by some very fine buildings. That's a substantial branch where your saw appears to be stuck.
ReplyDeleteIt cut pretty easily. I am glad I took along that particular saw.
DeleteSuch long-going viruses can really take it out of us. One thing you need to be careful about when it comes to prolonged coughs (but I am sure Shirley has told you that, too) is your heart. I am not quite certain of the details, but it seems such conditions can cause an inflamed heart muscle which, even many years after the original infection, can lead to severe heart problems.
ReplyDeleteSo, I am absolutety there with Peace Thyme in saying, Please take care of yourself!
The photos are beautiful and it is easy to see why you like that particular walk so much. Well done on removing the obstacle for other walkers. Here in Germany, I'd never dare to remove more than a twig - everywhere is someone's responsibility, be it the property owner in person or an owner like "the city".
Hiking paths, such as in the Black Forest, are generally kept in order by clubs such as Schwarzwald Verein, Deutscher Albverein or others. They aren't always on top of things, especially after the very wet spring and early summer we had, when vegetation exploded and paths usually accessible turned into overgrown jungles in a matter of a couple of weeks.
On that little-trodden path, nobody else was going to be sawing that bendy tree any time soon. Sometimes we have to grasp the bull by the horns.
DeleteUse it or lose it is so true. You have to walk every week.
ReplyDeleteIt's my only form of exercise so like you I have to keep it up.
Delete"use it or lose it" Well, I've lost it. My recent bad cold just about ran me into the ground. I have to rest two or three times coming from and going to the local shops, a mere ten minutes away! Pollen season combined with asthma doesn't help either.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you cleared away the fallen branch and some brambles too and hope everyone who walks that way appreciates your efforts.
They can send me money if they want to. I will happily accept it.
DeleteIt does sound as though you are suffering from a virus - or the prolonged after-effects of one. Perhap a visit to the doctor might not be a bad idea as you'll soon have the cooler winter weather to contend with - you'll need to be fit for that.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos, as always. The first one is a stunner - could just see the dog and I strolling along under the trees. It's very thoughtful of you to clear the way - are there no rangers to keep an eye on things?
No rangers on that particular path Carol. I would like to see you coming down from Lenny Hill with your dog. I would say "Good afternoon ma'am!" tipping my boater.
DeleteI much prefer the older houses, whilst the newer house is nice, it does not have the beauty of the older style and building materials.
ReplyDeleteI bet it is better insulated than the older houses.
DeleteDo look after yourself and take it easy on the walking, no long hills. A sudden fleeting glimpse of you walking up that hill with the saw in hand. Good thing it wasn't an axe or there might have been a flurry of activity about the 'mad axe man'
ReplyDelete"The Mad Axe Man" would have been no competition for "The Mad Saw Man"!
DeleteThat is a big tree to saw by hand, bravo!
ReplyDeleteThere were two limbs blocking the path so I decided to deal with both at once.
DeleteI am sorry to hear about your malaise. It certainly seems most unlike you to be suffering sufficiently to hamper your walks. I hope you will recover soon but take care not to overdo it in the meantime.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dr JayCee. Naturally I will follow your advice.
DeleteI often look at my cats who spend at least 95% of the time lounging and sleeping and wonder how on earth they can still be so swift and lithe when they need to be. You are so right- to maintain stamina one has to be constant. And like you, the body's ails keep seeming to conspire against me walking regularly.
ReplyDeleteDo you suppose you could have long Covid in which the effects linger long after you quit testing positive?
Whatever. You took a beautiful walk and I'm sure you are the better for it.
I think I am gradually getting better. I suppose that "long COVID" is a possibility - thousands of other people are suffering from it but in my case I think it is unlikely.
DeleteI hope you're feeling better soon. I'm amazed you had the stamina to saw through that tree and clear the debris considering the beating this virus is giving you,
ReplyDeleteMany times I have thought of bringing a saw along - it was just that yesterday, I remembered!
DeleteIt's so frustrating when you can't walk as far and easily as you could once.
ReplyDeleteNo more roads to the isles for you my lad but you have great memories of those times. Close your eyes and plod away.
DeleteIt's so frustrating that we become deconditioned much faster than we become conditioned. I've noticed as I've aged that it takes much longer to recover from everything, something that irritates me no end.
ReplyDeleteGood on you for cutting that branch and clearing the path for others. Love the photos. I love old stone houses, and walls.
Hope you're feeling yourself again, before too long.
I still keep sleeping when I sit on our sofa which is not like me at all.
DeleteThat's a pretty big tree! Well done clearing it.
ReplyDeleteI'm also walking less these days, at least recreationally. (I walk a couple miles back and forth to work each day.) I really should get out and walk more, but I feel guilty when I have to leave the dog behind. Which is ridiculous, I know.
Leave Olga with her other daddy!
DeleteLovely photos with lots of countryside charm. That tree looks like a real "beast", though! (I see a definite likeness to a dragon...) Well done defeating it!
ReplyDeleteI can also see the eye of the dragon.
DeleteThese viruses can be quite debilitating so don't overdo things until you feel well enough. I bet if anyone had met you on your walk carrying a saw they would have thought you were the local mad axeman.
ReplyDeleteThey would have needed their eyes testing Addy. A saw looks quite different from an axe.
Delete