Modern life is hard

Modern life is hard. You wake up on Monday morning with the dread of another week pounding in your chest. Homework, school work, house work. Four missed calls before breakfast and a drive to work bumper to bumper or stuck behind a tractor or cyclist. A pile of emails, text or calls. Facebook notifications, PPI, the latest fashions, all geared up to waste the precious time you have allocated to the task ahead. A member of staff resigns, another calls in sick, the gas man is late or doesn’t even show. You drive home ruminating about the days events, contemplating the state of your life or the loss of a loved one. You arrive through the door to rushed ‘hellos’, dinner before a meeting down The Ox or pass the baton so your spouse can go to the gym. Oh, and the dog needs a walk. Grab the lead, put on your wellies and you’re off – the drive needs weeding, don’t forget the bins. Stomping down Lombard Street, heart beat 101. Slowly the sky opens up and you notice the sparrows chirping and the doves cooing. Turn into The Row and through the footpath. The light through the hedge and the birds flitting purposefully. Alarm calls – is it a warning about a fox or an owl? The footpath opens up and you’re in the field. You watch the clouds drift by and remember long lost childhood days. Over Gibson’s bridge – stop to look out for the kingfisher or maybe the pike, or the mink.

Through the gate and it’s like a trip through the wardrobe into Narnia. The cool of the shade under the arching trees. The river glistening in the low light and rippled by the breeze. The myriad greens and leaf shapes weaving a tapestry from the footpath, up and over your head. Stop by the river, get down low and every sound from outside is barred – only the laughing call of the green woodpecker or the tsee-tsee of the long-tailed tits. Maybe sit in the sunshine on a bench and feel the warmth penetrate your skin – the heat from the wooden seat soak into your legs. The smell of the cow parsley. I would be lost without the Millennium Green. If, like me, you find life a bit tough sometimes – re-wild yourself! Take a walk through the Millennium Green – you won’t be disappointed. It’s better without headphones. Maybe even leave the mobile at home. Get lost in the moment and really appreciate the wild world on our doorstep.