05 | May | 2020 | DAVID OAKES

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Dave with Barney and Betty the Border Terriers

It is strange times. Our mornings exercise more often than not seems strange and lonely. True we do meet, or rather pass, a few others. Usually they will have dogs in tow, and smile and express a brief greeting then continue on our separate ways. Sadly it is the regular friends, friends that were always part of our social walking that we miss.

So it was great to meet Barney and Betty with their owner Dave, it lifted my spirits, and at a safe distance we were able to compare notes on these strange times in which we live.

It may well be week 7 of lockdown, OK., we have got into the swing of new routines that are becoming quite normal. Head off out and your mood changes, its quiet, no traffic to speak of and few folk…. it is a strange very unfamiliar world.

This is the busy A6 Trunk road, mid Tuesday morning…… no traffic in sight…

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Normally I would have to wait for a gap in the traffic to make a dash for that pedestrian refuge, wait again then the final dash to get to the other side….

That same feeling of being alone is also apparent at Handyside Bridge, again a normally busy cycle track and walkway.

The River Derwent flows silently below the bridge, past the Rowing Club all safely lockdown…. strangely peaceful…. hard to recall that just prior to lockdown the river had been in flood.

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All is at peace in the village, like a ghost town…. and it is still peaceful on the traffic free A6 on the way home…

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I do wonder just what our New Norm will be once these precautionary restrictions are eased…I say eased as I cannot imagine any dramatic return to the way we once lived.

Please Remember ….

Stay Safe …. Be Kind…. Look After Each Other

5th May

Silver Birch on Stanton Moor, Derbyshire

In normal times, Stanton Moor is one of my favourite places in Derbyshire when I want to head out and stretch my legs. It is open heather clad moorland, not that high, but high enough to give great views over the surrounds.

Nor does it might at what time of the year it is, every month it changes, every visit a different light. In spring, as above, it is green. The Heather and Bracken have some way to go….come August it will be purple clad, then on into November and the browns take over….. maybe in the winter it will be covered in snow, but that is an occurrence which now seems to be rare. Times change.

As those times change, we do know that we have to wait, before we can head to the moors once more….