I sort of enjoy these wildlife sculptures, though not as much as grandchildren when they’re with me. Jane and I first came across them many years ago when walking through Grizedale Forest in the Lake District, where there are dozens of the things about. That was one of our original ‘special places’, having honeymooned in the area back in 1973, though we saw no sculptures in those early days. But we did climb the hills and walk the wooded trails. Funny, as I wandered through the forest again it struck me that I could be in almost any conifer plantation in the country. They’re all the same, barring a few steeper hills. And they’re all becoming just a little commercialised, which doesn’t work quite as well for me. I just like to walk and enjoy nature. A broad scattering of outdoor sculpture is just about acceptable, but I don’t need to ‘Go Ape’ or attend a Will Young concert. I even came across a mountain bike class of about a dozen being taught how to do ‘wheelies’. I’m too old for that game, though the cycle hire shop had a selection of electric bikes. But for some reason it just doesn’t feel right that you can now go chasing around the forest on an all-terrain Segway...
We’re all different, enjoying ourselves in our own ‘unique’ ways. And when we find something we like, given a choice, it quickly becomes part of our life. Of course if I were a teenager I’d love to be doing some of the newer forest activities, but I’m not. So I just walk. Right now my life has changed though, and there are many activities that were a regular part of my life that I can no longer enjoy. If I want to move on I’m going to have to find a new way of living. More than that I suppose I’ll have to keep finding the ‘new’… I can travel, that’s easy. But I do need to meet new people and that’s definitely challenging. And there are many other things on my ‘must-do’ list that need action as well. One step at a time.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ‘This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!’ (NLT)
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