Tired legs and tired in general.
Nothing like standing around in fresh air and rain (yesterday) to wear you out.
Our first business today was to go along to the public hanging at
South Queensferry where Mary's sister Karen (Big Red) was being
lowered off the rail bridge (Big Red).
We arrived to find a substantial parked
queue of cars all the way up the hill out of SQ. Surely this couldn't
be for Karen's abseil? Unfortunately it was. Which proves there is an
appetite for public hangings. After wandering around and seeing all
there was to see from either side of the goings on, we located Karen
and pals who were raising money for Chest Heart and Stroke.
The whole thing was running like a
smoothly oiled machine, with folk being suited and booted in the
Hawes Inn then walked up 10minutes to the bridge and along the
walkway below to the point where they lowered themselves to the
beach. A steady stream of gloves, helmets and harnesses were moving
round this circuit with hundreds of drops raising £130,000 for the
charity. When I say drops I mean abseils – there seemed to be
quite a successful crew of safety people ensuring no objects
(including volunteers) were falling from the bridge on to the
spectators.
Due to yesterday's exertions and the
less than photogenic weather we got pretty restless in no time at all,
and after Karen was safely on the ground again we headed off to
Cramond for a run. We parked next to the Cramond Inn and witnessed
the Kiltwalk setting off. Or possibly the Wee Walk section of the
Kiltwalk. Man alive is this weekend charidee epicentre of the year?
You couldn't go anywhere in Edinburgh without having to give a tenner
to a worthy cause. I think the Kiltwalk is like a Moonwalk but with
more gravity. And men in skirts. Happily it was all away up Cramond
Glebe Rd and we were going up the Almond. The river was swollen and
syrupy brown with all the fallen rain. The smell of the wild garlic
was outstanding or was I just a bit hungry?
Mary had agreed to 2.5 miles out and
the same back and not a penny more. We were both weary from yesterday
so I didn't complain too much about such a short run. The garlic, the
birds, the flowers and stuff were a pretty distraction and it was all
over a little too soon. Over the Cramond Brig and into the Dalmeny
grounds then up a road we don't normally go.
A couple of spring lambs
(number 23 and number 23) were exploring the boundaries of their
world. Mary discovered the double whammy road (it climbs it descends
it climbs again) where she will be leading training sessions at a
later and unspecified date. She refused to go just around the corner
to see the steam coming off the field.
The air was still and suddenly
really quiet (apart from the invisible jets overhead taking off from
the airport.) I think it was just the distance from traffic and noisy
children, but all you could hear was the birds. It put us both in a
really good mood where previously I for one was a bit tired and
cranky. We enjoyed the way back to the car – ducklings on the
Almond, garlic on the riverbank. And we found an overgrown brick
bomb-shelter which we dared each other to go in. It was utterly pitch
black inside and there was every chance it housed a large beast with
furry paws and claws.
On the way home we parked in Tescos and
Mary popped in for soup for lunch. Listening to gentle music I nodded
off as the trudging Kiltwalkers plodded along the cyclepath next
door.
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