Today I climbed up Roseberry Topping. I was not alone. The young man from the National Trust was there picking up the litter that was left there yesterday, though why it wasn't obvious to those untidy visitors to take that with them I don't know.
Today's visitors were local and from other nations, some I'd seen on previous days. A red admiral got up the path ahead of me. On the ascent a stone told me I was 46 miles from the start of the Way. At the top it was very very windy and I clung to the trig point as I tried to do the necessary selfie (which I'm not good at on a flat spot on a calm day).
The world stretched out beneath me: farmland with its patchwork of fields in light and dark, green and gold. Beyond those the industrial sites of Teesside, close enough for this to be a local leisure space.
It's amazing being above the world like this, looking down, looking to the horizon, looking up to the clouds racing by. Walking this route is good for me. It is restoring me as well as making demands on my fitness.
In Guisborough woods I thought how astonishing it is to be here, in this place, by God's grace. Each plant and creature living round me. Each step planted firmly on the earth. I walk at my own pace, aiming for about 30 minutes per mile and as I step out I am reclaiming my confidence and the way ahead. It is being in the wide open space that helps this process.
In our coming and our going
The blessing of God
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