Here's how it works - I google map the address of our lovely Holloway home, look at the surrounding area of the map, find a fun park/garden/destination a couple of miles away - and run. It has evolved from simply wanting to exercise to becoming some of the greatest adventures & joys. These are photos from the first couple of places:
On this run, I got super lost. It turned out to be pretty incredible. You see things in London that you never would have seen. These places aren't in some tourist guidebook somewhere; they don't have their own website or namesake. They are the secrets of London and exist for people to stumble into them, enjoy them, and leave them to maybe find again - but maybe not.
Most of the places that end up making the adventure runs a true adventure are the stumble-upons on the way to what was the final destination. My least favorite thing while being in London has been experiencing long periods of time feeling lost in the city. It's not a fun feeling and if anything it makes getting around stressful and overwhelming. But on the adventure runs, getting lost is the best part because you step out of the city and are lost in the places worth getting lost in. Below are pictures from my run yesterday and a little story that sadly, encompasses me as a person a little too much:
The destination was called King Henry's Garden, about 2.5 miles away. Sadly when I got there, it was closed until noon (why in the world would you close a garden) but on the way there I saw a walking path off the side of the road. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful places I've seen in London thus far: path to one side and a slim pond of water winding to it's right, leaves from turned trees covering the ground, willows hanging overhead and squirrels. SQUIRRELS! It was the first time I'd seen a squirrel since I had been here. It was enchanting and became my own personal jungle. Having said that, I took the idea to a whole new level.
I'm not entirely sure what happened, but some inner Jane was tapped into and I created my own adventure...and my own path.
Near the entrance, there was a tree whose branch was as thick as your average hug that climbed strait over the water walk. I tried to climb the tree & scooch my way over but it was covered in slippery moss (keep in mind, I'm in running clothes, I'm alone, & I'm jamming to Mumford - and I'm alone.) I walk another 15 minutes & find a little, baby bridge across the water! This has to mean that there is a path leading to my branch, and that this branch was meant to meet my tush.
So I start treckin', right? I start treckin, I start walking, I start singing a little song because I'm on my way to completing The Mission. At this point, things start getting a little overgrown. Trees, bushes & vines start to weigh in on my like Snow White and that blasted forest - but I'm not stopping.
The story is almost over, don't bail on me now! The branch is in my sight and I can taste the victory when all of the sudden - dead end. Not only a dead end, but my body met a dead end when my excitement propelled me into an unseen thorn bush. Still working those thorns out two days later.
And for the grand finally. Through the thick and thin of the brush I managed to avoid the cold creek beside me by the hair of my legs (it's winter, ok?). Until now. This rubbish blockade lead to my imminent surrender to the day's adventure. I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants and shamelessly cross that darned pond only to laugh at myself, by myself, on the other side.
Well, I can't say it was all for nothing because I did get that bottom right shot from the branch of dreams (I ended up making it, less gracefully than planned) and it was worth it. It's always worth it. Everyone of these runs is going to be worth it because there are things unseen in London calling my feet to take me there. And that's exciting.
And a quick shout-out to my accomplice hipster zombie, Hailey, and our second place costumes at the Halloween boat cruise. First place was way too main stream.
Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment