Wednesday 17 December 2008

You need to get out more




ME/CFS has a misguided conviction it can suck you dry from the inside, like other so-called "invisible" illnesses. It attempts to change your ability to think, move and function. 
People see a smiling face, they convince themselves you're well. I reckon that's better than always having a face like a fiddle!
So today, a little less crashed than often, I leapt at the chance to get out and about. Two dear friends rang and asked if I wanted to go to the National Trust park that's a half hour's drive away in the next county.

 "D' you fancy a trip to Columba?" 

My brain-fogged mental muscles had gradually reshaped this into the more realistic invitation to "Clumber (Park)".

 I got my walking stick, the dog's lead, my camera and waited by the door!

We arrived for packed lunch, sitting in the car overlooking the trees and fields which make the Yorkshire/Nottinghamshire borderlands so beautiful yet sometimes "overlooked" in quite a different way!  The sun was glowing bravely over a chilly smorgasbord of winter solstice sights and smells. Frost and fire lit webs and tendrils, the lake glistened with extra duck topping, dogs peed on scented tree trunks not seen for a while (the sign near the car park assured us "more "P" on the grass verges" or words to that effect - I  told the dog it wasn't an open invitation), and the corvines grizzled throatily from the Lime Tree Avenue.

For me, it was such a treat to get out into the healing countryside I used to walk and cycle in every spare moment I got. Today's outing was a refreshing  joy to share in Advent . OK, so now back home I feel like someone has taken a blow torch to my eyes and ears, put razor blades rather ungallantly inside my biceps and throat, my calf muscles are twitching and snickering like the nostrils of a well-bred horse, but my soul is soaring!

God bless, everyone;
hope you can treasure the quiet and quirky moments in your build-up to Christmas, and not get too trapped or drained by the frantic.


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