Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott and you join me on the 18th day of my pilgrimage.
I'm walking along the energy lines that run across England,
The Michael and Mary energy currents and today I started in Tiverton and have mainly been walking along a canal.
I'm right at the end of the canal now,
Got about another mile to go before I reach the very end of the day's walking and the day has been absolutely perfect.
My legs are pretty weary and walking along a canal is a real bonus because of course it's flat and I've really enjoyed the chance just stretch out or to slow down and the nature of the canal as well is that it meanders,
It doesn't go in a in a straight line getting to the end point as quickly as possible.
The idea of the canal is that it meanders,
Taking advantage of a level gradient and as I've been walking along the canal I've seen mallards and ducks and heron and swans and blackbirds and different kinds of small birds ferreting around in hedgerows.
I've seen dog walkers,
Cyclists,
I've seen runners and it's just been an absolute leisurely delight and here at the very end of the canal there's a bench and I'm just leaning against the the bench and table now as I reflect on the day so far and I've been visiting churches along the route.
The Mary and Michael current have passed through churches at places like Holberton and Samford Peverell and Holcombe Rogus and Greenham which is my last church is another place where I think it's the Mary line,
The Mary current passes through there but the thing I think that's really struck me today are two things.
One is the number of benches alongside the canal.
Dozens and dozens of benches,
Wooden benches along the length of the canal and the canal is probably about maybe 11 miles long something like that and each bench is an invitation to sit down and isn't it strange in our world that we don't take that much time just to sit down and to really enjoy the sun and the scenery and the wildlife around us and the other thing about the benches which really struck me is that they were often dedicated to somebody who had died and the messages were often engraved in little brass metal plaques that were on the benches themselves and each message was representing a loved one in somebody's life and it was quite poignant really to know that the people that were being remembered loved walking along this canal and the invitation was for me to sit down at a spot which they would have loved and to drink in the view that no doubt they enjoyed when they were alive and I find that really special that sense of realization that what is really really important is about living our lives and relishing and enjoying the beauty that is all around us and the other thing that struck me about this canal is that it was built over 200 years ago it was conceived that this would be part of a much longer route that would negate shipping having to navigate around Land's End which is the part of England that points out into the Atlantic Ocean and is very treacherous for shipping but the people that built the canal ran out of money and they never fulfilled that expectation or aspiration so in a way what we've got is something that was conceived to be one thing has turned into in my opinion something much more beautiful something that is available to everyone something that invites you to slowly walk with the canal as your companion enjoying and loving the slow leisurely pace of life so for me today as I have felt quite weary is a lesson from the canal and it's the same lesson I often have time and time again it's slow down and enjoy a slower pace of life
