I am conscious that there is a story left untold, namely my autumn camino. It did happen, and I have the photos to upload. I won’t forget. It was great.
Since September 2014 I haven’t walked as much as I would have liked, In fact for a long time I hardly walked at all. My clever wristband tells me I still walk a great deal just at work, because I spend much of my time on my feet, but of course that isn’t really what I meant. I spend such long hours in the car that during the winter months I leave in the dark and arrive back home again in the dark.
In recent days the weather has been quite mild, and it has coincided with some time off. I’ve been out twice and covered a reasonable distance each time. Today was just perfect and made me realise why I love living in Sussex. It was very mild at around 10 celsius, blue sky peeped through broken clouds everywhere and the wind died down. I walked from Amberley to Arundel with a friend. We started quite late in the afternoon, because I got stuck in traffic, but it was just perfect as we headed out in the fading light.
All around birdsong filled the air, and I saw a cormorant overhead, a heron further down along the riverbank, swans grazing in a nearby meadow, and heard an owl in the thicket next to us.
At West Stoke the stone buildings glowed in the last of the sunshine. As we headed up the narrow lane towards Arundel we had to jump out of the road for an oncoming tractor shortly followed by a Landrover, and finally a shepherd with his dog moving a dozen or so sheep down the lane. One was limping on the right fore foot and I wondered if that was the reason this little group was being taken down to the farm.
It was great to reach the Black Rabbit and sit down for a leasurely dinner and a pint. Very much later on we wandered into town and caught the train back to Amberley to pick up the cars.
What a delight to see crocuses and snowdrops out and pick up the delicate scent of early spring. It is quite possible that some cold front will wash over us and bring wintery showers again, but for now it is great to be out and getting the legs pumping.
gidivet camino 