Just popping out to the shop

Beware nettles thistles and other stingy-prickly things.

ONE of the problems with any activity is that you have to motivate yourself to do it – but sometimes, you just don’t feel like it. You’re glued to the telly; there’s that washing up that needs doing; or you’re enjoying a relaxing cuppa.

But the beauty of walking is that you can do it on virtually any occasion, for any length of time, and with very little preparation. Agreed, for longer, more ‘serious,’ walks you do need more planning and warm up exercises, but provided you have comfortable clothing and footwear, you can walk any time!

Scenic route to the shop.

My walk this evening was ‘short and sweet’ and, as my brother commented, shows that ‘walking can easily be slotted in to daily life without much bother - no special kit, no technology, just a willingness to get moving!’ You don’t even need a great deal of time.

Basically, we needed some salad for tea from the nearby shop. And guess whose job it was to fetch it! After slaving over a hot computer most of the day, I thought I’d combine the shopping with a quick walk, so would take a ‘long route’ (the shop’s only a five minutes away) – allowing 15 minutes in total.

An earth track through a copse going in the opposite direction to the shop was the choice! I know. Sounds bonkers, doesn’t it? Naturally, a woodland pathway is different to walking on a flat pavement. This particular trail remains more or less at the same level, but twists and turns and undulates and there are tree roots and small holes and bits of overgrown vegetation along the way. At this time of year, everything’s green. 

On the other side of the trees - a busy highway.

Although this kind of surface is uneven, it's relatively easy to walk on - but gives you more to do. An alternative route would have been a pavement running alongside a main road nearby, but the traffic was quite heavy and there would have been too many fumes.

Unlike yesterday’s walk, which was more leisurely and punctuated with taking photos, tonight’s was a fairly deliberate thrash, to complete the exercise and get to the shop. 

I went through the copse, then returned along footpaths between houses and re-joined the woodland track further up, before pushing on to the shop, so completing a sort of misshapen circle.

With shopping done, I arrived home 11 seconds off the 15-minute mark, which I was quite happy with. My average speed was down, of course, because I had to wait in the queue. But I’d completed a woodland walk, enjoyed a bit of exercise, and got the tea back on time!