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Christine Vaughan Davies's avatar

Such a beautiful post. And the images are stunning. It makes me wistful for the time I lived in Scotland. I will be heading out to England tomorrow to the Lake District for a week of walking and noticing (and maybe some writing) - and your post is great inspiration to draw from as I make my journey there.

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anne richardson's avatar

traveling mercies Christine. i love the Lake District (that was included in my 2019 sojourn). may your time be rich with rest, noticing, and joy.

and thank you for your kind words.

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Christine Vaughan Davies's avatar

Oh do you have a post where you talk about the Lake District? Would love to read that!

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anne richardson's avatar

it is on my blog over at Nurture Your Journey under "Sojourning with Grief" from 2019. Specifically May 2 & 12 when i was walking the Coast-to-Coast. here is the link to the 2nd: https://nurtureyourjourney.net/blog/2019/5/2/sojourning-with-grief-kindness-on-the-stony-path-c2c-part-1. :)

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A Biologist Takes a Hike's avatar

Amazing piece! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I’m heading back to Scotland for the Great Glen Way in a few weeks and am going to try to get to the West Coast for a few days.. this was perfect timing.

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anne richardson's avatar

thank you Mike for you kind words. i look forward to reading about your next adventure! and i do hope you make it to the West Coast. one of my favorite places in the UK.

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Michael Windelspecht's avatar

Thank you! Hope your knee is mending !

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Michael's avatar

The Battle of Culloden fits well with our times--the complexity, the despair, the ill-advised decisions, the few controlling the many, the senseless loss of life... I despair thinking we haven't moved so far from those days. You move well from literal blood loss (the ground would have absorbed about 1200 gallons of blood) to poetry to capture the true consequences of the battle. How poor we are if we live literally, constrained by definitions and categories and theories and boundaries and conclusions. But living image-istically, always circling, experiencing, feeling, being larger-than--somehow we find our pulse, our hearts are warmer, despair is resisted.

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anne richardson's avatar

thank you Michael for you reminder that we don't have to live literally and that we can resist despair, find our pulse, and that of the world.

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Katy Wheatley's avatar

So many things to ponder here. Thank you for your thoughts. I wonder, have you read Vesper Flights by Helen MacDonald? I think you might connect with some of what she says x

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anne richardson's avatar

thank you Katy for being a fellow ponderer. i have Helen's book Hawk, which is in my TBR. what i have read of hers in excerpts pings my heart, so i will check out Vesper Flights to add to my list (what i love about TBRs is they never shrink, only grow!)

say hello to Susan when you see her next. :)

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