The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

This could have been very boring. I have tried to write diaries while walking and believe me, they are dull, as you just describe the terrain and sometimes the view if you raise your head at intervals. But Raynor Winn pulls it off by not bothering too much with the minutiae. She doesn't tell you much about the steepness of the hills and on the South West coast path they are steep! She and Moth (her husband), as all the reviews will tell you, had very little money because they were horribly cheated out of their farm and home. It might have been legal cheating but it was still wrong. They are middle-aged people - not old - physically tough, and they go walking because they can camp out in the open and live independently. They have nothing else to do. I understood very well all the problems of should they pay for a cup of tea or should they eat some protein, because I've lived it too, I knew that life when I was in Australia. The lovely writing absolutely transforms the experience. Raynor worries about the future, her children, what she and Moth are doing and most of all, Moth's illness, but the walk distracts them. They are united in their love of nature and being out there walking next to the wild ocean and Raynor communicates the complete transformation she feels.

She also describes what it's like to be in a sheep-shearing team and I tried very hard to visualise the situation as it is something of a closed world.

They start to identify with other homeless people and feel concern and anger on their behalf. The homeless need all the attention and kindness they can get. More and more people are falling outside society, falling off the road, and the common attitude is complete callousness. The government has no plans for the lowest 20% of society. I believe that this is disgusting. To this government they are "low-value" people. The Victorians had kinder hearts and were less morally bankrupt.

A happy day

Today I didn't have to teach or do anything much, so I started by going on a long walk by the river with my daughter's school. I parked in the road where I grew up, outside my friend's house, and I was so glad to be active again after a week sitting at my desk, in the car, or in the classroom. I whizzed along as fast as my shoes would allow. But my shoes are rigid walking shoes and though good at protecting the feet, they are not  flexible enough for fitness walking and I know my feet will ache tomorrow.

There were signs of spring by the river - a small bunch of violets growing in the Rivermount steps, a few shivering daffs, catkins. After 2 hours my legs were really tired and I was glad to stop. Then I took the knitwear that I had bought in the sale back to the shop. I went and had coffee and a cake with my mum who had a lot to say about hospitals and the way they treat old people, and dementia. Sometimes I think my mum has dementia but there was not the slightest trace of it today.

I got back and looked at my emails and finished my book and wrote a book review. Then my daughter told me that a boy had asked her on a date to a coffee shop and I took her on her date. She met the boy, who looks like a decent sort of lad and is a lot taller than she is. Obviously he knows a good thing when he meets one, and apparently he can run fast.  I think that it is a good thing that he can be bothered to run fast, but I haven't really thought this through...