Clifer Denn 2/2

I calmed myself with a drink of water. A few scraggly birds flew overhead on their winter vacation. They made me want to doze in the grass. Take my place in the big natural shutdown. That would not be a good idea. Not a way to last long.

Let me go back to the book burning.

I understand the style of late night television in that era. That you invited guests onto chat shows, and put them in ridiculous situations. Got an ex-minister to stand crouched in the stocks, or made a handsome celebrity endure a bad makeover. Arranged beforehand, a Butter Mouse themed prank might have been good fun. 

But the thing is, they were the actual books from Archie’s old bedroom.

I get the joke. This was Archie saying goodbye to his childhood. Literally burning down his memories, and lampooning a ‘national treasure’ in the process. Ha ha, very funny. Classic content on Use Mouth Better.

But those were the actual books. I knew the way the corners bent. The rips in the pages. We had read them that much. To see a woman dressed in devil horns and a bikini use a Zippo to set them alight was too much.

When the tears started flowing Archie did not know what to do. His brain stopped computing live on national television. I have no doubt that some of the crew and audience members thought this was a setup. Their laughter was too sociopathic otherwise.

This is all long in the past. But the night still haunted me, even on the calmest walk of the year. I used the anger to march forward. A tarantula walked in an excited rhythm in front of me. Whole watermelons dotted the branches of the trees with green punctuation. I did not care. I walked until my breath wass painful and swollen in my throat, and the back of my calves were on fire.

Nothing disturbed me on the way round. Not even on the horizon. Perhaps it was biding its time. Perhaps it knew today was not the day.

Perhaps it knew I was too angr

Clifer Denn is a gorgeous walk. A chance to relax, and enjoy the scenery. A chance to think. And decent walking routes too! Hurray for public footpaths!

::Have to be careful with my description of the devil woman Barbara. I don’t mean to be disparagingNot her fault, and a job is a job. A different time, hopefully.

Hard to get that down. The moon helped tonight. Reminded me to keep going.

Nothing to report, so no arrows and circles today. Just another gorgeous view of the scenary. Should we publish these photos at the end of the chapters, or in glossy paper in the middle? 

Next time is the one by the way.

I have a whole sack of oranges. 

I think I know what I need to do. I need to stop walking. I need to wait. ::