The first walk!

Well I set off this afternoon for the first walk in my Lenten challenge! Billowing clouds and occasional gusts of wind but no rain, thankfully. Getting soaked this early on would have deflated my spirit somewhat!

Spring was evident everywhere; along the canal bank, in people's gardens and even the roundabout at the junction of Worcester Road and Hartlebury Road!

I saw old buildings and new ones; well manicured gardens and tip sites. Particularly striking was a small front garden immacutely prepared for sowing - I could only guess; veg or flowers? I thought about the work still needed on my veg plot and felt inspired.

A wheelie bin with a picture of a dog and a caption 'I love dogs', someone laying paving stones in a back garden, planters with pansies - all these things hinting at the people inside the homes. Their lives, their aspirations, their talents. So many lives represented by so many homes!

Two faces of Stourport; the busy, industrial, traffic fuelled town and the quiet, corners with rural views. Side by side, nature and industrialisation as has been the case since the Georgians brought the canal to Mitton. A plaque on one house, presented by the Civic Society, a reminder of the town's heritage.

Down the canal bank, past The Bird in Hand, along Holly Road, up Summerfield Road, Mill Road, Orchard Close, Mill Lane, Mill Close, further along Mill Road, Hartlebury Road, (I was not going to be put off by minor inconveniences like closed footpaths!) The Willows and Walnut Grove, into Baldwin Road and back into Holly Road, returning once more to the canalside and the sight of a man with a small child feeding the ducks. "They'll be laying soon, it looks like" he said. Spring in the air. In spite of all the traffic, the building, the industry, the world goes on turning through the seasons - beautiful, lively, hopeful. Nature resistant and breaking in through every crevice; cultivated and spontaneous.

We are 'nature', too; our inner beauty breaks through the layers of conditioning, through the busy-ness and the peer pressure. Spring comes to our hearts after a long, dark winter!