I was listening to some music from the proms, in my present in the moment mode. However, afterwards I realised that I had done what I often do at such times, that is to disappear back into my past. If music feeds the soul then mine immediately seeks the wild country. Consequently, I was walking all night over the Long Mynds in Shropshire, years before I married. Then, I was on top of Tryfan in Snowdonia reflecting on a rock climb to the summit. There followed a fell run up and over Helvelyn in the Lakes. From the summit, I caught sight of Ann well over a mile away, and then I pursued her. She always started the run a good 20 – 30 minutes before me. That was because she needed her own pace and space to feel the mountain muse and have her own communion with nature.

Fads

I dislike fads and not least the ones where people have revelations. Consequently, they then have the urge to tell us how nature and wellbeing can help us to recover from the pandemic. What the hell do they think we have done all our lives? As a penniless kid with no confidence, I found that I climbed hills rather quickly. This gave me a new found confidence, that being on high or down a cave or hanging on a cliff face, that this was life. Nature could throw all the worst weather at me, and did, yet I never waivered. She was the master and I the servant. However, for that moment in time, I was alive and I was immured in nature. I also loved the people who loved the outdoor life, and we had such times together.

Communion with nature

I don’t think I ever really proselytized about this. However, there was more than a touch of narcissism. My pleasures are, after all, about me, me, me. I always left Ann to decide for herself how to respond and, whatever her decision, it would make no difference to our relationship. However, and fortunately, she also decided to run and she also became a fellrunner. That moment, alone on Helvellyn, where I pursued her towards Grisedale Tarn, was a high point in my life. It was moment where two creatures fused with nature. Nothing in the world mattered beyond the warm sun, the gentle breeze and the lithe bodies, so apart and yet so united.