Walk&Talk4Life

22/10/2020

How about a Forest Therapy guided walk?

I am enrolled in a course to become a guide certified by the Association of Nature & Forest Therapy Program! I'm only a few weeks into the course, but I'm enjoying it hugely.

I asked the trainers when I might be ready to host a Forest Therapy walk and they said, "Now!" They encourage us to "play" and to start pronto.

So...this is just a small post to let you know that soon I'll create events here that you will be able to join. There'll be actual forest walks and virtual walks, also during the period of Movember to raise money through participant donations.

I thought I'd let you know. I'll share more information about what's involved in the walks soon and more importantly, what the walks are not.

The Association's beautiful approach is captured in this wonderful phrase they say over and over again, "The forest is the therapist, the guide just opens the door."

06/08/2019

This Tree...

Under the Milky Way,
this tree
and me.

It died, years back.
Burned by new, scorching winds.
But it won’t lie down!

Storm after new, strong storm,
lightning, thunder, crazy winds.
But still you stand,
saying “No!”

“Do you remember me?
When I was alive?
Beautiful?”

I do! I remember you.
Dancing leaves, rollicking
on a living breeze.

“What now?
What’s next,
do you think?”

I don’t know. I’m scared.
Without you, I’m lost.
Waiting for the storm
that will eventually lay us both down.

14/01/2019

Had a walk on this incredible piece of human achievement this Sunday past. Quite extraordinary. Had me pondering the walls and barriers we build around ourselves, between ourselves and others, between ourselves and Nature.

02/01/2019

Thanks to AMx for sharing this interesting article.

I don’t fancy walking so much in a city, though I can sense the attraction a little bit...but getting out wand walking, quietly, in Nature, is for me a beautiful thing. You do indeed hear the birds and many other things if you take the time to listen.

A new documentary looks at one urban wanderer's pursuit of a simple goal: To walk each block of New York’s five boroughs.

26/12/2018

My family and I are in Fuerteventura! (That’s one of the Canary Islands). We had a lovely visit to the Sand Dunes National Park yesterday late afternoon. Lovely light.

Today, we hiked a short distance - less than 6km overall - up a wee mountain (El Cardon, 690m) where we visited a tiny chapel carved into the side of the mountain.

We didn’t scramble all the way to the top but we still got some stunning views.

23/12/2018

Hi Walk&Talkers!

I thought I'd share a little story about compassion from my walk yesterday morning with Finn.

We were doing our traditional walk when a young lass - she would have been no more than 12 or 13 I reckon - came trotting by on a wee Shetland pony. She was riding bare-back and having a good old chat to the horse.

"Bonjour" I greeted her and got a quick "Bonjour" back as she trotted by. She was heavily focused on the task at hand. I was a little worried for her. Shetland's have a reputation for being cranky and here she was, (OK, it's a rural road so very little traffic) trundling along on her own. Oh well, I thought, she had a helmet and all the gear so I guessed she'd be OK.

Literally 30 metres past me and I heard her shrill voice start to urge the wee horse to slow down. I turned to look and sure enough, the horse started cantering and then galloping as she turned up a little path between fields. Slowly, inexorably, she slid gently down its flanks and hit the ground, somewhat gracefully.

She tried to hold onto the reins but to no avail and the Shetland bolted off in the direction it had come, right across the ploughed field. The young lass got up straight away and off after it, calling it to stop, to come back. It must have gone a good 300m I reckon, galloping, and all the while the young girl continued after it.

Eventually the horse stopped and looked about for some grass. The young lass got closer and closer until finally she lunged at the loosely hanging reins. She had him. I was relieved. There is something of a main road not far from that field and I'd been worried the horse would head there.

Relief left me pretty quickly as I watched with some dismay as the young lass launched into a vicious attack on the little horse. Screaming, she slapped his face and kicked his body, pulling down hard on the reins, hurting his mouth. All the while, the horse tried to lurch away, tried to escape. She almost lost the reins again, such was her fury and the horse's mad pulling back. This went on for a good 30 seconds. That's a long time if you're the horse. I was sad.

"No wonder it bolted," I thought to myself. It knew, as soon as she fell off, that it was in for strife. I wondered at the beatings it had received in the past.

Eventually she settled down but still couldn't help but tug roughly at his reins. She headed back toward the road. Having stopped to see if there was anything we could do, Finn and I continued but the beautiful silence was pierced again and again by her screaming at the horse. She did get back on - commendable - and trotted off again in the direction she'd been going when I'd first encountered her.

I wondered at what else might have been. What might have happened had that little horse known nothing of beatings. If it only knew love and compassion. I suspect it wouldn’t have run away so madly, so far. I know horses and my Dad was very much of the 'you need to show 'em who's boss' school but I was sad. Sad for the horse and sad for the girl. Sad that the former knew beatings and sad that one so young felt compelled to beat a fellow creature. What other approach to life might have helped the both of them?

The things we see on our walks.

18/02/2018

Sometimes solitude is cool too...

Hi Everyone...I did two enjoyable exercise things this weekend but I was mindful each time that I did them alone...not really the spirit of walk&talk4life in the sense that I wasn't with mates, fellow walkers...but...all that said, it was great.

I wanted to share this with you all in case you too could be inspired to read the book in the pic. My mate Julien was the first to tell me about Walter Bonatti and then he shared me this book. It's one of the most inspiring and humbling books I've ever read. Such an incredible man, such endurance, such mental strength, such a commitment to stick to his values through so many tough times. I thoroughly recommend this book for anyone who loves mountains....or just anyone interested in pushing themselves beyond their limits.

So yesterday, despite pouring rain the whole day, I walked up the bush tracks toward the summit of La Dole. I went a long way but I didn't go all the way to the top...I might have done, but needed to get home for duties there. I didn't take Finn because it was pouring rain and as he's gotten older, he's developed an aversion to rain. Then today I went for a bike ride - first one since Sept 4th! I stopped riding about then so I could prepare for the Movember walks but it felt good to be out on the bike today...notwithstanding the freezing temps. Yesterday on my walk I didn't see another soul...save for the trees, the mosses, the wonderful plant life that welcomed me along the way. Today there were a few fellow riders...we acknowledged each other with a nod as we passed...but we were all solo. It was special...a time for solitude and gentle reflection...

But anyhow...Walter Bonatti...as I walked yesterday and rode today, I thought of him. Climbing incredible mountain faces alone, in winter. Such strength, such inspiration. How he tolerated the cold and pain...clearly a once in a million person. Just before Christmas we were in the Alps, Hotel Montenvers, where we were able to see the Dru (see 2nd pic), a mountain Bonatti climbed solo in 1955, pioneering a new, previously deemed impossible route (that has since collapsed off the mountain). Six days he was on the climb...sleeping in the stirrups...grappling with cold, thirst, hunger, but he did it. Such inspiration.

Yesterday as I walked, today as I rode, I found myself wondering - Bonatti was made for climbing, what was I made for?

25/06/2017

Yesterday I walked & talked with mates from the basketball team I used to play with here in Geneva. We had a reunion up in Les Diablerets because one of our mates was over from Colombia.

It was great to see the lads, great to catch up on everyone's news and great to be in Nature.

We also had a 3 on 3 game of bball to relive the magic. Legs are VERY sore today!