Hello there, Alexa here.
I just wanted to share part of a beautiful walk I’m on today.
Everything I Love About Walking in One Journey
This walk really does include everything I love about walking. It’s a bit of a warm day.
I took Jam, the dog, out earlier today, between just before 8:00 and just before 10:00, in some lovely woodland. She had an opportunity to swim in the river at the beginning and the end of the walk to keep her cool. We had a lovely time.
I came back, repacked, headed back out again with my walking poles into some local woodland, and I’m just on a little country lane. I haven’t seen a single soul, bicycle, car, motorcycle or otherwise coming down this country lane so far, and I’ve been walking up it for 20 minutes.
It’s kind of deteriorating into its original state, I think, the road surface covered in gravel and things.
The Beauty of Ancient Woodland Routes
What I wanted to say is I picked deliberately a woodland route today. Even this road, this is a more exposed bit of this road, has just been lined by beautiful old trees.
You can see that the road has sunken slightly in amongst the hedgerows and the tree lines. So I suspect this road used to be a footpath and has been some sort of route between important places for quite some time, albeit there are much faster roads around here now that people prefer to travel on.
The wind is picking up a little bit, which is really welcome because it is about 30 to 31 degrees now.
Why Woodland Walking Feels So Calming
I just wanted to be really thankful for the woodland.
Picking woodland routes I find unbelievably calming for the soul, the mind and the body.
The noise of the wind in the trees, not just the shade it gives, but the cool it gives as the trees breathe slightly cooler air exhaled beneath their leaves.
It’s just been a total delight so far today. A total delight.
An opportunity just to pause, take photos, look and be in awe of that lovely oak tree just on the other side of the road behind me.
Just take in my surroundings, say hello to people, say hello to passing dogs, and really drop into a state where my mind is nice and relaxed, my body is nice and relaxed.
There’s no pressure. I’m aiming for a pub, which is another few miles in that direction, to meet my partner there for some lunch.
A half-an-hour warning phone call for them to get there.
The Simple Joy of a Summer Woodland Walk
What could be better? What could be better? Particularly on a sunny day.
My mum and dad were a bit, “Ooh,” when I told them that I was going to be out walking in the middle of the day. But actually, if you pick a wooded route, it’s just beautiful.
Anyway, I thought I’d share because I am really enjoying this, as you can probably tell.
