I’m not sure what I do can be classed as running away when it’s practically slow motion.  It’s more a case of escaping from All The Things for a short time…

So many people sent such lovely messages after my last post.  Thank you all for such loveliness.

Mum is still living like a queen.  Dad had a little hiccup, but the bonus there is that we now know the District Nurse phone line we’ve been given access to is fast and effective and full of lovely people.  We also know that 111 is not fast but it is eventually effective and full of lovely people (as long as someone is available to check on the patient in person, someone is available to make and take a series of phone calls over a seven hour period, and someone is available to drive all over Kent on a Sunday morning to track down the prescribed magic.  Thank goodness there are three of us).

Some people who messaged suggested that I make an effort to look after my stress levels, and – as well as a few other things to do just that –  I do make sure I still run, (plod) badly, with Percy four times a week.  First thing on those days we run (very slowly) through the nature reserve at the top of our road to the woods where Percy snoofs and I….well, to be honest, I usually forget that I am supposed to be running and instead have a lovely little walk, listening to my current audio book. (Brain Damage by Freida McFadden at the moment, recommended by Sister 1.  Lovin’ it)

I know it’s the movement, the sunlight and the space that is good for mental health and stress levels, but I think it’s also the people and dogs that make this time so lovely.

People like:

• the man who runs in glasses and over-breathes as his two black labs pant along side him
• the slightly odd dog walker with six spaniels
• the old couple with one grumpy dog that has to be shielded from the sight of me as I pass (totally understandable) and three tiny yappers, intent on (and successful in) scaring Percy
• the couple who are always in coats, even in the hottest weather
• the couple who eat humbugs as they walk their tall, bouncy dogs that bounce along side us for a couple of miles before lolloping off back to their humbug sucking humans
• the lady with two walking sticks who insists her dogs lay down before we pass
• and lots more…

Some days we bump into a few special people who have become our friends.  The sort of people who started off as ‘nice weather, isn’t it?’ people, to the strangest of friends.  Strange in that they know more of my life than most, but outside of dog walking, I never see them.  I’ve never met their partners or even know where they live.  Sometimes I wonder if they are fairies or figments of the forest that live only in my imagination…but I assume other people have the same connections – friendships with otherwise perfect strangers. (Tell me you do?!)

And I think it is all these people that allow us to escape All The Things.  Because when I am outside, before the actual day has really started, protected from it all by canopies and trunks of trees, it’s like a different world where work and step parenting and family and responsibilities are on the outside and I am on the inside.  And that is one of the ways that I escape from All the Things.  By running badly. (Very slowly) 🙂

We all have different Things, but it’s good to know our escapes in whatever form they come in.  What’s your method of escape?