I need to get out and have a walk every day. As the weather deteriorates this is going to become more challenging! Even just half an hour of fresh air and exercise is all I ask! I thought it was only the weather that would stop me but the other day something else happened which initially caused me some concern.
A couple of days a week I make myself soup for lunch in the fancy soup maker my colleagues gave me when I became a ‘lady of leisure’. All I have to do is chop up the vegetables, add water and a stock cube, turn it on and, half an hour later, I have a delicious meal. There is about a three kilometre walk starting in the lane at the bottom of my garden and I can do this in about half an hour. It’s up a steep hill so I do a power walk, get my pulse racing and breathe in delicious fresh air.
The other morning I grabbed the moment when there was a blue patch in the sky and the rain had given way to a brief sunny spell. The rain had left everything looking so fresh and I inhaled deeply, enjoying the clear, clean air . I felt so fortunate to be outside on a weekday morning when friends and ex colleagues were sitting at their desks in stuffy offices breathing in stale air.
it was then that I saw an old car parked very close to a farm gate at the end of the wood. It was quite dark but I saw five men wearing hoodies shuffling around, very intimidating. I wasn’t sure whether I should turn back or soldier on. But I decided that I wasn’t going to let these people stop me so, looking straight ahead, I marched past them. One shouted a greeting, I replied but didn’t turn around.
With my heart pounding I continued up the hill, walking even faster than usual so had begun to pant quite heavily! A young man with a baby in a pram and two elderly people walked past me. Another car with two women in dark clothing turned the corner and drove down the hill. The plot thickened! A short while later I heard two gun shots!
My vivid imagination went into overdrive. I decided that they were some kind of cult and had murdered someone and thrown their body into the wood. I began to panic, wondering how I could get home without walking past the cars. It would have meant a big detour and I had to be at a yoga class within the next couple of hours.
So I marched on up the hill, turned left down another little lane which led back into the one that would take me past the cars and back home. I saw another couple who cheerfully greeted me and had survived walking past the ‘hoodies’ so I took a deep breath and turned right!
The cars had gone! I peered over the gate and couldn’t see any body or any sign that one had been dragged along the bushes. There was just a tyre track at the side of the road. They had left no other evidence!
I got home in record time! The soup tasted delicious. I subsequently heard that police had been made aware of drug dealing at a couple of places in the neighbourhood. They were extending their patrols. The gun shots are common because farmers shoot rabbits and pigeons so hearing the two shots had been a ‘red herring’.
I am not letting this episode blight my walks! I am hopeful that this was a ‘one off’ and won’t happen again. I usually see other people out enjoying the fresh air and getting exercise. I’ll be one of those people, weather permitting only! 👠
Jenny Burrell 