Crumbs From the Corner: Adventures in Woolgathering

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Taking a Hike



Spouse, as is his habit, calculated the matter without need of pen or paper: he estimated that all the walking I did in the last four months, back and forth to the local library, was the equivalent of hiking from one end of Ireland to the other.
"Keep that up," he said, "and you can do the return trip as well."
In truth, the route to the library offered a consistently more hospitable environment: I stumbled through no bog lands on my path, nor was I obliged to scale shapeless mossy hills, or pick my way through fields of staring sheep, or take shelter from blinding sheets of ice cold rain.
But now that I think of it, certain books I hauled seemed indeed as though they must have been torn from the side of a cliff on the Atlantic Ocean, so weighty were they; and there was the faintest, stinging hint of salt water in my eyes as I struggled home with arms numb, fingers aching, hoping that the enormous volumes of paper were worth the trek.

3 comments:

paulmerrill said...

Ah, but the way your describe the journey makes it all worthwhile - to us, anyway.

molly said...

i have an ambition to walk the length of Ireland before I die, preferably sticking to coast roads....You need a donkey to trot along beside you and carry those books for you!

Phyllis Hunt McGowan said...

Paul, I'm glad you think so!

Molly, Oh, I'd like a donkey. Lovely animals. I've always wanted one :)
I hope you do the trip some day.

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