Not having a morning walk isn’t really an option with a spaniel collie cross, every morning is a joy to wake up to.

Yet some mornings does the walk have to involve the human?

I so often see people who almost seem scared to stop, so focused on their own goals to achieve, the partners, the children, the teams at work, how the world should be.

So this morning I chose a different path. Across from the cottage there is a cemetery, the place that people use to connect to different places in the village. A gate to walk through along the path to get to the Bowling Green. Some mornings our walk is down the hill, past the school down towards the village shop, up the big hill, past the Bowling Green and then through the cemetery to home. Yet this morning I just sat.

Great thing about having a dog that likes chasing a ball is that this human didn’t take the walk. After removing the brambles, I sat on the bench in the emerging sunshine of the day and flung the ball.  And in doing so I realised how many gravestones I haven’t yet read.

I took time to walk round and read. And in doing so doing I know how lucky we all are to be living a life right now.

So I suggest you take time to just be, particularly to those whose like a challenge.  Can we have such a thing as competitive contemplation?