The Wrinkles of Life.

I was walking this morning along the side of Coniston Water. I love this part of the world and this track. I met a couple who were trying to work out exactly where they were and if it was possible to find another way back to their motorhome. I was able to give the very detailed instructions including telling them about an old metal seat they would pass called the Jubilee Chair. It had been placed there to commemorate a jubilee celebrated by Queen Victoria.

They asked if I had walked this track a few times? I was able to tell the I had run and now walked it so many times I was almost on talking terms with every single rock and boulder. That I had given many parts of this track names that marked off certain distances in my head.

That morning prior to leaving my own motorhome I had looked in the mirror as I shaved and once again become very conscious  of the ageing face before me. Like the boulders and rocks I was very familiar with the wrinkles and creases that created the contours of this old face.

As I left the couple to proceed on their way and me on mine I reflected back in my mind of the days I ran at a fair pace up and down over streams and roots of trees. 

Now hear I was walking. The hands of time were moving on and  could not be stopped or held back by man.

Gone were the days of running this and feeling the exhilaration.  But think of the bonuses I was now having. The sounds of the birds singing, new born lambs. The Red Kite sitting on the fence post never moved as I walked quietly past. Running I might have seen those.

I hope that the hands of time allow me many more years to enjoy that track and those things. I may have to take longer and the blind tattooist may have added some more wrinkles and creases to the face. But rather than lament or despair I will accept and as the sage says go with the flow and be at one with the Chi. 

I managed to even content myself this morning to a stop to eat my apple and draw in the scent of the gorse and hawthorn and listen to the wind on the water. I hope the painting done on my IPad shares some of that with you. 

Have a great day and forget all about the invisible tattooist.