Month: December 2019

Yesterday was almost the shortest day and used it for our longest day walk of the year. Since returning from the End to End we have been doing walks in the NW that link up some of the places we’ve previously walked to. The walk we planned was ambitious at over 15 miles, on a day that would be short on daylight, but we had a number of sections to link up. Also we wanted to visit Warrington West Station as it only opened last week.
We started there and walked towards Sankey Bridges where we met the TPT and made our first link to the LEJOG route. I was last here 7 months ago on 22nd May.

We walked along the St Helens Canal towards Widnes. It was a beautiful bright day and we saw a couple of herons. The bare trees were outlined against the blue sky. Fiddler’s Ferry was reflected in the canal. Climate change, and the contribution of power stations like this to carbon emissions has been something we’ve been reflecting on this year.

At the Widnes end of the Canal we reached the Mersey, seeing both the Mersey Gateway bridge and the adjacent older bridge currently being upgraded. We crossed the Mersey and the Ship Canal and picked up the Runcorn branch of the Bridgewater Canal. A little further along we stopped for some lunch at a pub.

After lunch it was more overcast and the light was fading. However it was a good path as we made our way down to Watersmeet where the Runcorn branch joins the section of the Bridgewater Canal that emerged from Preston Brooks Tunnel. I was last here on 21st May.

It was dark as we got back to East Runcorn Station for the train back to Manchester.

God grant a quiet night

JAL 21.12.2019, from Warrington West to Runcorn East.

Today I was thinking about zeal, an old fashioned word for enthusiasm. I find it is something that very much ebbs and flows in me, especially around this time of year. It reminded me of the seal I saw, earlier in the year on the beach between Golspie and Brora, on the North East Coast of Scotland, on the End to End.

O balancing seal,
You balance, banana like,
Your shapely form
Enjoying the waves and tides.

O balancing seal,
You incarnate the possibility
Of a life lived in balance
With the environment.

O balancing seal,
Lend me your zeal
For the Balanced Life,
Giving Glory to God.

JAL 21.12.2019 Winter Solstice

Following an earlier Advent themed post, here are some further cries of Advent inspired by winter walking encounters and the creatures on the Trans Pennine Trail.

O Bouncing squirrel,
Setting off on your highway through the trees,
You remind me of the Forerunner,
Making straight the Advent Way.
Your energetic journey is like the highway of our God.
As we remember the Baptiser,
May we too bounce along to announce
The One who is to come.

O Nervous nuthatch
Hiding in the bare branches,
I see your timid hop
As you try to gague the gap.
May we who also know timidity,
Take courage from your agility:
Living the balanced life,
Take the risks to which we are called,
And, nervous or not,
Greet the One who comes
To bridge the gap
And bring Creation back to balance.

JAL 11.12.2019 TPT

These alternative/additional cries are based on encounters on my walks in Advent. Unlike the traditional Advent O Antiphons that accompany the Magnificat during the last 7 days of Advent, these are not based on Scriptural names for Christ. They could be used for reflection at anytime during Advent and are based on sightings of seasonal creatures who might be engaged to point to the Incarnation.

O leaping deer
Be still my heart:
The leaping deer
Crosses my path,
Wildness come near.
O leaping deer
Come quick to bound away.
Hart take flight,
Make my heart soar:
Where our paths cross
Instill in me adventure love.
O leaping One of Advent hope
Come soon!
Continue the adventure.

O garrulous pheasant
O garrulous pheasant,
Eastern incomer,
With colourful head
How you startle me from the edges.
O talkative One,
Communicating presence,
Outspoken about injustice,
Lend us your voice in this season.

O pointing heron
O pointing heron,
Standing still, waiting:
Grey suited, slimlined,
Sharp and precise
You point ahead.
As we search for the Way,
Pointing One, alert, engaged,
Keep us on track:
Continue indicating the right direction.

O flying geese
O flying geese,
Sharing the load,
Cleaving the sky
On your winter journey,
May we follow your flight path,
Enjoying the sights,
Keeping right on:
Just flying.

Even so, come then Lord Jesus.

JAL 07.12.2019
From walks on the TPT and Rochdale Canal.