Oh, what a beautiful morning
Over the last month or two, I’ve been boosting my exercise levels by walking into work, a 7.5 mile round trip, which takes about 1 ¼ hrs each way. The route I take was originally chosen because it is the shortest and half of it is on the flat, a miracle in Bristol. But it is all down major roads, most of it the A4 and you’d think it was the most uninspiring walk imaginable. But it isn’t.
I start off along the river and the trees and bushes hide a surprising amount of wild life. At this time of year, the birds are singing fit to bust and it’s fun to hear the odd alarm call moving up-river ahead of you. And thanks to the clocks going back, I am having a second chance to see the sunrise colour the clouds; starting off grey, moving through hues of pink and orange, glowing briefly golden before they transform into their daytime white fluffyness.
Just before I join the A4, I pass Bart’s spices and here is an assault on your sense of smell. The overall impression is usually of curry, because there is such a mix of herbs and spices in the air. But each day as you gently sniff, there is a different predominant odour; today black pepper tickled the back of my nose.
Next I pass Fowler’s – Bristol’s biggest bike shop – and if I have time I can stare longingly at some great machine or other, triggering dreams of riding on a race track. Further up the A4 there’s a second bike shop and on the return walk, some of the big beasts are outside on the pavement, tempting one to stop to find out more. So far I’ve resisted the temptation, but it gets harder every day.
But here the easy walk finishes as do most of the distractions. There are two hills between here and work and mainly Edwardian housing. But by this time the rush hour is well under way. The weight of traffic has increased and the cars are no longer rushing passed at speeds above the limit but are beginning to form impatient queues. And this is the new point of interest.
I have come to the conclusion that there are just too many people with more money than sense, because every day I can spot at least one high performance or supercar – quite often a handful – in the remaining mile that I walk. I know I have every intention of joining that fraternity sometime in the not too distant future, but it stuns me that so many people drive them into the city during the rush hour. Yesterday’s car of interest was a TVR T350 – I’ll have to research the car I drooled over this morning, I have no idea what it was, only that I want one because it was so beautiful.
The last leg of my journey, in good weather, consists of a short hike through a park and field that back onto the trading estate where I work. Some days there’s a horse or two in the field, other days you can watch the birds gather. Today the plants were all covered in rime and looked so pretty, it was a shame to go indoors, despite the temperature.
So, what is the point of this rambling monologue? Well, nothing I suppose, except to say that you can find beauty all around you – you just have to open your eyes to the opportunities.
I start off along the river and the trees and bushes hide a surprising amount of wild life. At this time of year, the birds are singing fit to bust and it’s fun to hear the odd alarm call moving up-river ahead of you. And thanks to the clocks going back, I am having a second chance to see the sunrise colour the clouds; starting off grey, moving through hues of pink and orange, glowing briefly golden before they transform into their daytime white fluffyness.
Just before I join the A4, I pass Bart’s spices and here is an assault on your sense of smell. The overall impression is usually of curry, because there is such a mix of herbs and spices in the air. But each day as you gently sniff, there is a different predominant odour; today black pepper tickled the back of my nose.
Next I pass Fowler’s – Bristol’s biggest bike shop – and if I have time I can stare longingly at some great machine or other, triggering dreams of riding on a race track. Further up the A4 there’s a second bike shop and on the return walk, some of the big beasts are outside on the pavement, tempting one to stop to find out more. So far I’ve resisted the temptation, but it gets harder every day.
But here the easy walk finishes as do most of the distractions. There are two hills between here and work and mainly Edwardian housing. But by this time the rush hour is well under way. The weight of traffic has increased and the cars are no longer rushing passed at speeds above the limit but are beginning to form impatient queues. And this is the new point of interest.
I have come to the conclusion that there are just too many people with more money than sense, because every day I can spot at least one high performance or supercar – quite often a handful – in the remaining mile that I walk. I know I have every intention of joining that fraternity sometime in the not too distant future, but it stuns me that so many people drive them into the city during the rush hour. Yesterday’s car of interest was a TVR T350 – I’ll have to research the car I drooled over this morning, I have no idea what it was, only that I want one because it was so beautiful.
The last leg of my journey, in good weather, consists of a short hike through a park and field that back onto the trading estate where I work. Some days there’s a horse or two in the field, other days you can watch the birds gather. Today the plants were all covered in rime and looked so pretty, it was a shame to go indoors, despite the temperature.
So, what is the point of this rambling monologue? Well, nothing I suppose, except to say that you can find beauty all around you – you just have to open your eyes to the opportunities.
posted by Soo214 at 9:15 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home