Walk the Pod: 10 minute walking
S52E8 Awe and the mysteries of the earth
Walking around the park behind the hospital this lunchtime and contemplating a quite from Rachel Carson: “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.”
(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to Walk the Pod, your daily walking show where I take my podcast for a walk because I don't have a dog. You're very welcome along. This is episode eight, series 52, in which we are talking about, or, and walking around our local areas, stretching our legs for just 10 minutes, strolling in nature, paying attention towards directly in front of us. It is rather a cold day in the park today, but I've got a quote from Rachel Carson to bring you a marine biologist, writer, and all round good egg. And we'll be thinking some more about all from a slightly different angle today. Before we start wrapping up the series, starting to think about what we might talk about since series 53, in January. Welcome to Walk the Pod. (upbeat music) So marine biologist Rachel Carson is quoted in Duckett Healthner's book on, or which I'm galloping through at the moment, really, really enjoying it. And she said, those who dwell among the beauty and mysteries of the earth are never alone, or weary of life. Quite like that. And it was very striking to read that this morning on my way into work on the tube, because I thought it's a really interesting thing to prioritize being amongst the beauties of the earth, and I feel it increasingly important, actually. When you're a young person setting yourself up in the world, you can sort of be very focused on work and relationships, friendships, building a life for yourself. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. Makes complete sense, especially living in a really quite difficult to survive in environment. Which feels like the world today, the world of people, at any rate, but then when you get to be slightly older, like me, in my 40s, you start to want to reconnect with the beauties of the earth, I feel. And then I don't imagine that ever leaves you once you've started doing it. I've been trying to reconnect with the pagan wheel of the year festivals as a way of reconnecting with nature, I think. And my walking has kept me connected to the seasons, what's going on in nature, around the sort of all-encompassing world of work and life. So I thought that was a rather nice thing. And the idea that you're never alone when you're surrounded by the beauties of the earth, that's an interesting idea, isn't it? Somehow the earth is keeping you company. So, just something to think about there. Does it inspire or? I think the beauties of the earth, well, was it the beauties and the mysteries of the earth? I think they do inspire or, actually. We sometimes get caught up on maybe things like, "Oh, this latest piece of technology "is going to revolutionize the way we live." Well, yes, it is, but actually, the beauties and the mysteries of the earth are affecting us well beyond any piece of technology. Really, if we think about it. So we could learn more about it and we could try to understand our earth a bit better. (birds chirping) (upbeat music) What can I see directly in front of me? Well, quite an entertaining scene in the park today, actually, because we have a squirrel running along with something in its mouth and then suddenly into the park, bounded three pups. One of them is a small brown dog. The other two are mostly white ones wearing a jacket, sort of green, dark green quilted jacket. And the other one has big, fluffy, pendant ears and the three musketeers, as they are in the park, are absolutely adorable. The squirrel is nowhere to be seen anymore, unsurprisingly. It has scarpered with its nut. So, quite entertaining. For what is otherwise really quite a cold and slightly washed out feeling in the park today. It's quite gray overhead, there's lots of cloud around. I can hear in the background a sort of clanging of somebody dropping, scaffolding poles. Sometimes you hear something you think, "Oh, is it a bell ringing faintly in the background?" No, it's some kind of building site, it's all battered. And I'm struck by the orange and yellow and green of the leaves lying on the ground in a sort of mushy heaps and plenty of pigeons fluttering about and the hospital humming quietly in the background. There's certainly a nice quiet space, even if it is a bit cold today. And I can see the helipad on top of the hospitals. I just round the corner of the park, walking with trees to my left and shrubs and ivy and holly to my right. Nothing on the helipad at the moment. But it's there if it's needed. Pigeons cooing softly as I walk past. One of them's trying to eat something which certainly isn't food. And I want to have a word with it and say, "That's not, there's nothing of sustenance there. "You want to leave that piece of polystyrene alone." But it's going for it, it seems to have its own agenda. So who am I to interfere? It's got to be a wet feeling in the park today. It's not actually raining, but it has been quite heavily overnight. So everything feels damp and soggy. Particularly the leaves which are not crunching under feet anymore. Under feet, underfoot. Any more, they are just just smooshing into the tarmac as I walk over them. And nobody in the Tooting Gardens play space. Because it's just not really the day for it. It's been lovely talking about all this season. We've got a couple more episodes left before we wrap up the season on Friday. And then I'll be taking a break over the festive season coming back in January with the new series, series 53. And who knows what we might talk about then. I think we've got some interesting things that have bubbled through this year, but not been a topic, a full topic for a full series exploration. So there will be a topic poll for anybody who would like to vote. You just need to be a member of the Walk the Pod Lunchtime Walk Club to get a vote. And you can do that by going to walkthepod.com, pressing the button mark, join the Walk the Pod Lunchtime Walk Club. When you'll also get access to behind-the-scenes photos in my Friday photo dumps, you will also get access to our community message board hosted on Discord, where we have a lovely and lively community of walkers all over the world, which you can treat as your virtual walking club. And if you're trying to embed the habit of walking, it is very much easier to do so. If you surround yourself with other people who do the thing you're interested in building into your life. So I highly recommend that to you, walkthepod.com, just seeing the dogs previously mentioned rounding the corner in front of me now. They're going for a little circuit of the park, and they're running up onto the grassy hillock. Have a bit of a sniff and a play. Thank you for walking with me, dear friends. It's been a delight to stretch my legs with you this lunchtime. And you've kept me warm by being with me as I walk around this rather chilly park today. Thank you for walking with me. Thank you for listening. Take care of your beautiful mind themselves and each other. And I'll be back with episode nine of series 52 tomorrow. Tomorrow. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)