Favourite Place Again

My mother came on this walk. Matthew and I gave her a choice – sort of – to go to the Glasson cycle track or the Favourite Place. I kept saying the Favourite Place with a huge eager grin on my face, which I think forced my mum's hand even though she really wanted to head towards Glasson. 

I feel that, out of respect for our guest and the fact that we made her walk where we wanted to, I should take more time over this post. However, I do need to crack on, and actually I can't remember much about it. That's because, when my mum visits, there is a lot of talking – this is a great thing, but it also means that I can't share it all.

Beautiful day but a bit chilly. The skies are starting to look different, aren't they?

Here is where I told my mum that I sometimes stand in the middle of the road and play chicken if there's a car coming over the hill. Here is where she said that she worries about me sometimes because I'm not very careful and go into the dark places when I'm alone. Hehe!

So we reached the Favourite Place, or at least the first bit of it, and I showed my mum that this is the field that's a pond. To prove this, we climbed up on the fence and sat there for a bit and my mum could just about see the water.

We stopped and had a socially distance chat to a couple of people that my mum knew – she's one of those people who will know someone absolutely everywhere she goes. I, on the other hand, am not famous at all.

Next, we reached Jack Sparrow Lane. I tried to play the Pirates of the Caribbean music to add to the effect, but I couldn't find it. After that, we just looked for that stone that I'm still trying to find for no particular reason. Also, we pretended to be the Bee Gees.

We were yammering away and almost missed the cornfield. So I made us stop and turn back so that my mum could admire the corn and look impressed, as if I'd grown it myself.

Here was where my mum got emotional because, before we turned the corner, she wondered whether the stone would still be here where the farmers used to leave milk churns. My mum and her friend Carol (I think she said) used to hang about down here, and she remembered seeing the milk churns.

Halfway up the hill we stopped to admire the view, and also to admire Matthew. He's grown a lot in the past six months.

We sat on the bench for a while at the top of the hill and my mum was suitably impressed by the view. We had a good look at it and pointed out all the places we knew in Lancaster, and Morecambe. We admired the Lake District and Clougha, and generally marvelled at how pretty it all was. I feel like we might have had a cup of tea but actually I don't remember bringing the flask so maybe we didn't.

After I pointed out the Hundred Acre Wood, we headed straight back that way. I said that I thought this was quite a young wood, and my mum agreed because she could remember when there were no trees here at all. It used to be just fields.

We saw these amazing orange berries. My mum thought she knew what the plant was, but of course I've forgotten what she said so I can't check. 

At the other side of the wood, Matthew headed off home, and my mum and I wandered around some old memories for a bit longer because she grew up around this area too. It's nice to still be in a place with memories, but I really am feeling that it's time for me to be somewhere else and to make some brand new ones.

Until tomorrow, kids.

WQ