The highest of the Lammermuirs. And the first day both my children have been back at school in 2021. I dropped them off and headed for the hills.
After a very scenic detour through the rolling roads to the start point, I abandoned the car in what felt like the middle of nowhere and headed off. The route started with a fairly steep downhill, followed by a ford crossing (tried/failed to keep my feet dry) then a slow and steady ascent. I turned around at one point to look behind me and could see a slither of blue sky across the coast where the clouds were clearing which slowly chased me as I travelled.
The path soon disappeared and the walk turned into purple heather covered moor and as the sky turned blue above me all I could think about was walking down the aisle with my dad to the lyrics of the Corries:
O the summer time has come
And the trees are sweetly bloomin’
The wild mountain thyme
Grows around the bloomin’ heather
Will ye go, lassie, go?
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the bloomin’ heather
Will ye go, lassie, go?
By the time I reached the top (and Bella caught up), the sun was shining.
The return journey took me through the heart of the Wind Farm nearby. The last time I passed through a wind farm, there was no wind so it was eerily quiet. Today there was a constant, gentle woosh and the shadows passed across the ground every few seconds. After a final stretch through a farm fire it was back up the initial steep road I’d come down to the car.
Some days it just all comes together.
Debbie's 500 Miles for Parkinson's UK 