A particularly muddy walk through the local wood, but in the end worth it. Bluebells are always wonderful to see. Perfect timing for Hawklad, we had the wood to ourselves. And unbelievably, it wasn’t raining.
Bluebells
Irony
A small nature reserve on the edge of the nearest city.
Been coming here for over 20 years and I’ve never seen it this wet.
The small pond has suddenly decided to grow, there is supposed to be a wooden viewing platform there. In fact the now super pond has completely submerged the path on the far side. No circular nature walk now.
Impromptu streams forming all over the site.
The irony, just a few months back Yorkshire was officially under drought restrictions…..
Woods
Blustery breeze, a few bickering birds. The only sounds here. PERFECT in this mad mad world.
Several power cuts over the last few days. Helpful test updates informing us that the power is out. Helpful text updates saying that due to the complexity of the supply problem it was impossible to provide fix times. Helpful text updates then saying the power is back on. Then helpful text updates saying it’s broken again.
But in the great scheme of things, it’s all ok.
Especially OK when it encourages trips out into the WOODS.
Light Show
My phone camera really doesn’t like the dark…. It tries its best…..Sorry no glossy, professional photos here 😂😂😂😂 Being in focus is much overrated, that’s what I tell myself each day when I unfortunately see Shrek looking back at me in the mirror.
Unexpected bonfire night sky show, just when you think it’s been a quiet fireworks night. Especially as the public shows near us we’re cancelled due to flooding.
But if you give it a chance, if you look up ……. life, nature, all around us can be truly breathtaking.
Worst
Biodiversity captured in one photo. Just moments later Captain Chaos decided it was a great place to cock his leg. The flying creatures didn’t hang around after that….
Maybe I should send The Captain to 10 Downing Street. Maybe that’s the only way of getting The Serial Liar to finally quit, end this nightmare and we can get our country back again.
Look at the mess here in the UK. That is what happens when you give power to the worst amongst us. When will we learn.
Sunday
Sunday, the perfect day for an afternoon walk. Heading down one of those mighty Yorkshire motorways to a beautiful hidden lake.
Ideal for Hawklad, quiet and feeling remote. Plenty of nature and wildlife, no crowds.
On a walk like this you can see the difference in Hawklad. Relaxed, funny, talkative, at ease with the world. Add people, add crowds, add school and the change in him is marked. On edge, worried, pensive, quiet, reserved.
We need more of these Sunday walks.
Go with the flow
A walk in the deep, dark wood. No encounter with The Gruffalo on this walk, maybe next time.
Another Yorkshire Gem, Dalby Forest on the edge of the Moors.
A short school at home week. Just 2 days. Should be eight lessons, one lesson dropped for Covid testing. Three lessons, no idea whether they happened or not. One lesson with a few brief notes provided. One quite detailed lesson and one exam to be sat at home.
Sometimes you have to go with the flow. Schools are struggling. Teachers off. Support staff off. Pupils off. Old, unventilated classrooms. Covid in school. Additional pandemic workload. These are challenging times. I will politely chase up homeschooling issues but with understanding.
So when the lessons don’t happen, we go with the flow. Lost schooling time creates more time for the school of life. That school is fun. It has few boundaries. Definitely no exams. Only expectation, having fun. A trip to the Deep Dark Wood is definitely fun……
Unique
Even on a grey, bleak day, there is always something to see. Always something to admire.
So many leaves on one small bush and every one is unique. How cool is that. Nature gives uniqueness a chance to shine.
Some things are hard to fathom out. Hawklad has made astonishing progress over the last couple of years. Two years ago he was struggling to read, falling further behind the class. Getting no help from the system. The attitude was that if he couldn’t read by that age then real progress was unlikely. Any help should focus on getting him used to using technology to help assist with his permanent dyslexia.
Fast forward today and he’s been happily reading a history textbook. No help required. He might need to guess the occasional word. He might read the occasional word incorrectly. But he’s reading. He’s aiming to finish the Lord of the Rings trilogy next year.
It just shows what can be achieved.
Why does the system give up so quickly on so many of our children. So much untapped potential.
I remember being told by a Psychologist of an autistic teenager who was profoundly dyslexic. She was wrote off by the school system yet she was clearly incredibly gifted in so many areas. She had a dream of learning to fly a plane. So many obstacles were placed before her. She was told her dreams were unrealistic, beyond her. Yet years later she became a qualified helicopter pilot.
Hawklad has kept believing. That helicopter pilot never stop believing. Isn’t it about time our society KEPT BELIEVING in every child.
Free
That’s another weekend gone. Feels like I immediately need another one to recharge. Wishful thinking…..
It’s been the usual school effected weekend. Six pieces of homework talking Hawklad about six hours to complete. Why as a society do we have such a problem in letting childhood mean fun, freedom and adventures. I keep saying it….. if our countries so called Leader has to have his weekends off (because he needs them) then why can’t we let our children have the same leisure time. Is it because some people are deemed more important than others….
Hawklad didn’t complete all the work that was required of him but I stopped him. Enough is enough. Time to try and recharge. He won’t ever recharge doing Calculus questions but he just might when he can be outside and free.
Autumn
Damp, dark, chilly and windy. Definitely Autumn in Yorkshire. it also means places like The Yorkshire Arboretum will be unusually quiet. That’s the perfect time for Hawklad to have a relaxing visit. It’s good when he feels like he just about has a place to himself. That makes such a difference to him.
And it did.
And it made all the difference to his old Dad as well.
Can’t beat the quiet, can’t beat nature, can’t beat the autumnal colours.
A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. 