Thursday 4 th October

Well I’ve been home since Saturday so have had time to reflect- well I say time !….I’m supposing that you all think that having arrived home after such a hike – I would have spent the last few days reclining on my chaise longue being fed peeled grapes ( green) by the Dearly Beloved and given Earl Grey tea whilst relaxing and listening to the dulcet tones of ………stop right there ! Wrong! I’ve washed, cleaned ,shopped , walked ( yes Dear Reader despite the rain , our gorgeous Millie has to be walked!), baked and packed …….some would say, no peace for the wicked!!!!

Now, the company who supported us on the Camino have understandably asked for some evaluations. I completed the form with no hesitation- they were brilliant. However , in order to establish which trip I’d taken, I had to go through quite a list! Different Caminos were on the list to choose from, but what caught my eye was the French Camino on horseback – wow that would be some journey! What you don’t know about me is that I have always loved horses – however before I go off on a tangent, I’ll tell you , the Camino on horseback is a no no. I’d only do it with Kathleen and neither she, nor my derrière would consider it on top of a horse!!!

However the tale of my love of horses is worth telling. I was taken to riding stables as a child ( in Wooton in Bedfordshire) every week – Saturday if I recall correctly. I never understood why I couldn’t have my own pony – after all we had land either side of our house- but no way! I went on riding holidays/ pony club – fell in love with the pony I was riding – but no! How unfair can life be – and then aged thirty five, and with stables and land, a lovely patient of mine asked if I could take on his daughter’s horse. A dream come true – Copper came to live with us …. then I realised what owning a horse was all about, and yes they are an expensive commodity, but the greatest cost I learnt, was time. I loved having him though – this was my sport!

You see, I hated sport at school . Netball, hockey, lacrosse, swimming or tennis were on offer, but none caught my eye. I mean I did the jumping in a pool with pyjamas on and was deemed capable of rescuing anyone in difficulty- but butterfly and front crawl eluded me, and breast stroke was nothing like the stroke you see in the Olympic swimming teams!

I never mastered the art of the hockey stick – and as for running around a pitch with a football sized ball trying to get it in a net, clearly out of reach, didn’t do it for me either!

Okay, so that leaves two – have you ever watched a game of lacrosse, dear reader? Well it is fearsome – more so have you seen the goalie ? He or she is dressed up like someone in an ice hockey goal- it goes to say I was useless at the game! I’ve realised that I can control my legs ( sort of) and I can control my arms – but getting them all to work together is a challenge. So lacrosse, where one has to run whilst carrying a ball in a net on a stick, gave me considerable angst!

Imagine my horror then , when at a game when I was on the touch line ( thank goodness) – I was asked to get dressed up like a padded space man, to go in goal because the usual goalie was poorly!! Please don’t ask the score!

So that leaves one sport – tennis. Now my mother loved the game! She farmed me off on many an occasion as a small child whilst she went to play tennis! It appears she won a silver spoon at one point – oh the accolade!!

However just because you are good at something, doesn’t mean that your offspring will inherit this talent!!! No matter- I am sent for tennis coaching, and then before I know it I’m entered into the Bedfordshire Tennis Championships! Whoa – stop right there! New tennis skirt, shirt, shoes, in fact all the gear but certainly no idea! However, no choice I’m there – as if that isn’t bad enough ( I mean I don’t particularly like playing tennis) – my first opponent is announced, and who other than the school champion ! Well suffice to say, I neither got a serve in nor returned a shot – humiliation at its best!!!!

I’ve certainly never forgotten that experience, but have learnt that it’s okay not to be sporty! Walking , dancing and hooping are my forms of exercise now – and I couldn’t be happier!

In case you’re wondering I don’t have a chaise longue anyway so couldn’t recline on one if I wanted – and also sitting down on whatever, with my feet up, isn’t me either!!

I’ll be back in touch next week – I’ve certainly got a lot to reflect on, and will share my thoughts with you next time …..