Memories

AR Walk 8: Chalkshire Road - Monday 10 November 2014

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

Sometimes a section of the Bible comes to my mind, and the above verses were playing round in my head today as I watched a beautiful Red Kite soaring about the fields. (I'm sorry that the photography is not great but the Red Kite didn't want to play ball!)For me today these verses were particularly poignant as I grieved the death of my Grandad this morning. He hasn't 'just' died; he's been promoted to glory and is now in heaven with his Lord and Saviour, who he "served whole-heartedly" (Number 14:24).

I walked, I remembered, I cried, I laughed, I talked, I gave thanks to God for such a godly man. And I thanked God for a lovely weekend a couple of weeks previous when we celebrated together as a family; firstly just because on the Saturday and second for the life of our beloved son Caleb on the Sunday. Let me share with you some of my memories:

• walking - Grandad walked everywhere. I have fond memories of family walking holidays, and he was still walking to the shops in the days before his stroke/heart attack.
• strong hands - Grandad's hands were strong and gently, firm yet kind, big but loving. 
• just - Grandad was a just man, he would tell us off if we did wrong, but it would always be fair.
• loving - he was proud of his family; his two daughters, five grand-daughters, one great grand-daughter and three great-grandsons, plus his sons and grandsons-in-law.
• intelligent - Grandad was an avid crossword puzzler and regularly did The Telegraph crossword to keep his brain working.

 The walk today was an easy one with stunning views which allowed me the space I needed today. The weather was crisp and sunny, with amazing views across the vale. Pip and I found four geocaches on our walk; they were nice simple finds which was good and I'm not sure I would have coped with anything much more complicated! But our tally for the Aylesbury Ring continues to grow and more smiley faces are appearing on my geocaching map. :)

Sunlight

Walk 8

Date: Monday 10 November 2014

From: Chalkshire Road

To: Unnamed road/field of horses

Distance: 2.26 miles

Total ascent: 144ft

Route description: Fields

Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes

Average speed: 2 mph

Weather: Sunny

Region: Buckinghamshire

Walking with: Pip

Path: Aylesbury Ring

Map: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zbgVN-iW56BQ.kaNBoT9lLlXY