Distance: 8.1km
Accessibility: Steep going up long grass. Hiking boots and stamina a necessity.
Landscape: Rural hillside. Beautiful views, if you can make it to the top.
Perhaps I have tried to be too esoteric with my walks so far. Journeys down flooded rivers and smashed up industrial estates are not necessary with so many beautiful trails around here.
So I decided to stretch my legs out, and visit Gleódreám.
This hill is the biggest of three. They had waved from the horizon on several of my walks so far, waiting their turn. No real track ran up the side, but daffodils threaded through the grass, allowing some sort of route to aim for. White clouds dotted blue skies for the first time in a while. My calves burned, but the fresh ozone melt took me towards the heavens, and away from the rotting meat. Thirty minutes passed in a woozy, steep march. But this was the place to be.
Despite living in London for much of my life, spending my time with the Butter Mouse meant greenery was always close to my thoughts. I wrote them at my desk with Archie running around my feet. The number 52 bus rattled past the window, but in my mind I was here on the hills.
That was the point of the character. Have something you could plop into fun, idyllic situations, and see what happened. A place where the time is fixed at halfway through a peaceful Sunday afternoon. You might refer to this technique as mindfulness today, but my technique aimed with strict deliberation to take you from your home to a place of eternal comfort
A flask of coffee and sit down provided respite at the highest spot. I untwisted the lid, and dug my hand into the soil. Gleódreám is the sort of hill that makes you wonder what lies inside. A lot of this landscape is man made, and perhaps the tomb and treasures of unknown kings lay within, never to be discovered.
The nutty metallic caffeine taste was better than any barista’s fare. This was it. This was the moment that summed up why I had moved here.
Something moved on the other hillside. An animal. Massive and out of place. I looked over, my cup forgotten in the glass.
::Pleased with the writing here Barbara. These are the moments I am trying to capture, even if they are perhaps too loose in this initial draft. Am I being a city dweller here at the end? I know for country folk wild animals are standard fare, but stick with me. There is more to this sighting. Things are about to get odd again::
