Wifey was between night shifts so I made myself scarce. I popped in to visit her sister and my nieces who were having a "girly day" - I left before I was asked to help with pedicures.

It was still too early to go home so I went for a walk in a model village a few miles from home. Not a village of tiny houses, but a village that was built by a local landowner to be twee, nice for him to drive through and give the estate workers somewhere decent to live. Of course because its attractive there is no way anyone with less than £2million under the bed can live there. I counted 3 Aston-Martins parked up, today.
Still - I dragged my rusty Fiesta up the hill, parked at the church and went for a walk.

I was given a Memento Mori moment in the churchyard, which was nice. It was a shame the church has been locked due to robberies.

So I walked into the wood. I was conscious of the agorophobia ad I was waiting for it to kick in, but for some reason it didn't, so I kept going.
I heard Ravens overhead, walked through a cool wood, saw a Treecreeper, and emerged into the grey heat of a cornfield.
Still I walked on. I followed the path around the field edge, stopping now and then to pick up interesting bits of stone, take photos, look at the view, listen to the absence of human noise - or the muffled noise ofthe motorway some miles away to the east.

Then, thirsty and hot in the muggy heat, I turned around and headed for home. Back past the fields where I had a "Van Gough moment" as a dozen Crows suddenly took to the air a few yards away from me. The cool of the wood was a blessing. I stopped again to view a pair of woodpecker fledglings on a dead tree, then again for flocks of tits, finches, and some small deer. Finally I returned to the car under the young oak tree, cool in the shade. I savoured the quiet one more moment before turning the ignition key and starting both the engine and radio at the same time.



Still the agorophobia didn't kick in. It never did today. I don't think its a total victory, but it was a small victory.