Every sheep has a silver lining
10th December 2012
3 doors up from where I live in Woodhouse Eaves is a little track that leads to Broombriggs, which is a farm and a few hills and woods. It’s not spectacular scenery but it’s just good old fashioned English countryside that shows off the seasons and throws all the weather at you. If the sun is shining, it doesn’t matter if it’s cold. Actually it’s less muddy when the ground is frozen hard. The sun sets in the valley bowl of Woodhouse Eaves at 3 in the afternoon this time of year, but if you’re out walking on the hills you can catch some beautiful views in the late afternoon and brighten up your whole weekend. We don’t have a fish and chip shop but the local pub is a hive of activity all afternoon, so after a brisk adventure we drop in to meet up with some familiar faces and have some skinny fries at the bar with little jars of ketchup to dip them in.
Half way up the hill is a pond that dries up in the summer. In the spring, it’s a muddy slurry that has dozens of eyelids blinking at you just above the surface. It’s kind of creepy but also fascinating. This summer and autumn the pond has been full to the brim, of course and adds a bit of fun to a walk. Kids aren’t content to amble and admire the scenery, they need to dash and chase and climb and throw and splash. Kids give you the excuse to muck about and act like a kid wherever and whenever you fancy. Take the kids away and we all conform to acceptable adult behaviour, except when it snows, and then everyone is a kid again.
