May 24. Last day in High Portinscale in the Lake District
Friday May 24. Goodbye walk around Derwent Lake. Goodbye dinner at Farmers Arms.
It was fun to walk past Catbells (that I climbed to yesterday - Photo 2).
We stopped for scones and clotted cream on the walk, to my great delight. (Much as I am enjoying breaking my sugar abstinence for the moment, I do not enjoy being in the thrall of sugar addiction, so I will return to abstinence tomorrow).
Our pace was relaxed, often a saunter rather than a brisk walk, and we bathed ourselves in the beauty around us. On the second half of the walk we came to a tree we all three remembered. Judy and I had both photographed it before and did so again. Chris compared it to my drawing during the Freud tour of inspired by the sculpture of a slender woman bowing down (a sculpture from a museum garden - but I am not sure from which city - it was a city of bridges - Prague I would guess - ah yes! Judy remembers it was Prague. Where we went to the Kafka museum.)
We had planned a fancy dinner out at the restaurant of the hotel where we had our high tea (tea was in the lounge). But when we called we found they were serving only residents tonight - presumably because of the busy weekend. So we went to the pub around the corner and had a wonderful time - it’s a very relaxed atmosphere with good simple home cooking. Chris has lasagne (a British variant made with mashed potatoes and very good), Judy fish and chips, and I steak and ale pie. We all three had beers. Photo 7 is a collage from dinner.
A few more things I wanted to include from our walk. Photo 8 is a collage of a log with coins jammed into it, I imagine the log equivalent of a wishing pond, but I like calling it a money tree.
We took a slightly different route around the lake this time and came across a sculpture I had heard referred to as “The Hands.” I was deeply moved when I saw it because of its striking similarity to a sculpture my brother Scott made -I think it was probably in 1983, in the first year I was living with Chris - in honor of our living together and sharing our lives. I was very very moved by this sculpture which honors the care that the National Trust puts into preserving these beautiful lakes and lands.
It’s been a beautiful day. I’m about to go out now for another short walk to say me goodbye at twilight and watch the sun go down. Maybe I’ll post another photo when I get back and maybe I will wait until tomorrow. (And now it is tomorrow - and here is a photo I took at dusk of the little footbridge on the walk from our High Portinscale cottage into the town of Peswick - pronounced by the way Pesick - Photo 10.
Dear Trail Friends,
We walked around the lake on Sunday to say hello, and now we walked around the lake again today to say goodbye. It was very different to walk today - now that we have some familiarity and memories associated with the countryside.
Photo 1 is a photo from the walk - I chose it because when I look at it I feel some of what I felt walking. Easy, relaxed, glad to be alive, glad to be in a beautiful place sharing it with two of the people I love most in all the world.
It was fun to walk past Catbells (that I climbed to yesterday - Photo 2).
We stopped for scones and clotted cream on the walk, to my great delight. (Much as I am enjoying breaking my sugar abstinence for the moment, I do not enjoy being in the thrall of sugar addiction, so I will return to abstinence tomorrow).
Our pace was relaxed, often a saunter rather than a brisk walk, and we bathed ourselves in the beauty around us. On the second half of the walk we came to a tree we all three remembered. Judy and I had both photographed it before and did so again. Chris compared it to my drawing during the Freud tour of inspired by the sculpture of a slender woman bowing down (a sculpture from a museum garden - but I am not sure from which city - it was a city of bridges - Prague I would guess - ah yes! Judy remembers it was Prague. Where we went to the Kafka museum.)
Photo 3 is Judy’s photo of the tree, photo 4 is her drawing and photo 5 is my drawing. It’s the first time we ever drew the same thing.
The tree has such grace and balance. It almost seems to be dancing. It seems so connected with the world around it. I do love how drawing makes me aware of a whole different “vocabulary” from language - shape, line, color - for communicating emotion. Not just emotion. When I chose the color for the sky in my drawing I had a feeling that this color was somehow the “truth” of my day. I am so grateful for these quiet meditative drawing times with Judy, opportunities to attune myself to the sensory aspect of travel and honor some of what cannot be said in words.
This morning before our walk we tried to arrange a taxi for tomorrow morning. Much as we love our walk into town, we did not want to pull our suitcases over the rock and gravel footpaths. But no taxis were available. This is a three day weekend (Monday is a holiday) and all were completely booked.
So Judy suggested we call George, the owner of the cottage we are renting, who has been very kind and friendly and ask him for advice. That required that I finally learn how to “translate” phone numbers in the UK to numbers I could dial from my phone (with its SIM card from the Netherlands it thinks it is a Dutch phone). I finally figured out to dial 00 44 and then delete the first zero in the UK number and made a successful call. Just talked to George and he said he would figure it out for us, not to worry. Photo 6 shows George with Judy and Chris in the kitchen of our cottage.
We had planned a fancy dinner out at the restaurant of the hotel where we had our high tea (tea was in the lounge). But when we called we found they were serving only residents tonight - presumably because of the busy weekend. So we went to the pub around the corner and had a wonderful time - it’s a very relaxed atmosphere with good simple home cooking. Chris has lasagne (a British variant made with mashed potatoes and very good), Judy fish and chips, and I steak and ale pie. We all three had beers. Photo 7 is a collage from dinner.
A few more things I wanted to include from our walk. Photo 8 is a collage of a log with coins jammed into it, I imagine the log equivalent of a wishing pond, but I like calling it a money tree.
We took a slightly different route around the lake this time and came across a sculpture I had heard referred to as “The Hands.” I was deeply moved when I saw it because of its striking similarity to a sculpture my brother Scott made -I think it was probably in 1983, in the first year I was living with Chris - in honor of our living together and sharing our lives. I was very very moved by this sculpture which honors the care that the National Trust puts into preserving these beautiful lakes and lands.
Photo 9 is my collage of the hands (titled “Entrust” and the inscription - hope you can read it.
It’s been a beautiful day. I’m about to go out now for another short walk to say me goodbye at twilight and watch the sun go down. Maybe I’ll post another photo when I get back and maybe I will wait until tomorrow. (And now it is tomorrow - and here is a photo I took at dusk of the little footbridge on the walk from our High Portinscale cottage into the town of Peswick - pronounced by the way Pesick - Photo 10.
Either way, hope to see you on the trail tomorrow. It will be a slightly prosaic day travelling by bus and by rail to a hotel near Heathrow so we can all fly to our respective destinations on Sunday. But I will keep an eye open and an ear open for the little surprises and adventures that can bring spirit into the dullest of days. See you then. Thanks so much for walking with me.
The hands make me think of your brother's sculpture that used to sit on your dining room table in Del Mar!
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