online: 5 april 2013 modified: 1, 2, 4, 5 april 2013 1 april 2013 all fool's day and easter monday
on Hampstead Heath
...surprised (in the continued cold wind from the north-east) to find a sheltered spot that is free of wind...
...but it's not out of the continuous boom and beat of the music from the easter funfair (about 400 metres away)...
...walking this far cost me more effort than usual... i guess i am spontaneously shortening these walks to suit my diminishing strength... and i hope giving more time and attention to what i encounter...
...just now it's the pleasure of experiencing the emptiness of this spot out of the wind... and the people walking slowly by... in the wintry sunlight... an absence of visible events... and a preponderance of trees and undergrowth temporarily halting their new growth while this cold spell continues...
...a man runs by with his legs and arms moving smoothly... (as if he knows what he is doing yet is letting his nerves and muscles act automatically)... a magpie pecks at the ground before flying away (i didn't see where it went while i was looking at the touch screen)... now a woman with two dogs on leads... and two women clothed in bright colours... shadows are already long as the sun shines through the trees... now a cluster of people some on bikes and one running two walking... and at this point i get up not yet knowing which direction to walk in...
...my first chance-selected point is the tumulus but as it's very exposed to the icy wind i decide to keep to the forest until i can see the tumulus from a distance... and much enjoying the relative warmth of the forest (called the poor man's overcoat in some country districts)... and the scrambling under and around trees and the sparse undergrowth... on this dried-up ground and in the dry air and sunshine in the arctic weather that is expected to continue here for week or two...
...having reached the nearest bit of forest to the tumulus i set off to walk on unaccustomed paths (or the absence of paths) through forest and undergrowth all the way to the highest point... (where i expect to catch a bus to get home by my preferred eating time)...
...only to find a second easter funfair through which i walked with both curiosity and horror... looking at the novelty of some of the hightech rides with their mighty and sudden gyrations (probably powered by hydraulics) and at the pathetic crudity and simplicity of the decorations, of the colours and the music... yet it's life... and much liked by many... but i can't pretend to enjoy it... i feel that everyone is capable of and deserves more subtlety than this... though the self-imposed g-forces may resemble those endured in spaceflight (about which i also have doubts... see the internet and everyone pages 162 to 169)...
You may transmit this text to anyone for any non-commercial
purpose if you include the copyright line and this notice and if you
respect the copyright of quotations.
If you wish to reproduce any of this text commercially please
send a copyright permission request to jcj at publicwriting.net
