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I stop aching after shorter distances now (the reverse psychology of whatever it is I've done to my back). My Fitbit says I walked 48.5 miles last week, so it's unlikely I’ll top that -but not a single step seemed to do me harm. I only have a little dog and he looks beefed up to the max right now. He can’t do long grass routes; it pokes him in the eye and he looks at me like Clint Eastwood giving me one minute to get out of town.

I'm exploring fallow field hedges alongside a wire fence, old old trees marking the boundary. The barbed wire makes it clear I’m off the narrow strip of public right of way, but those trees needed the company.

This is where there were firemen last week, but it’s all quiet now. I find a different exit, shimmy through the hawthorn, and end up beside a highway. Listening to the cars zoom by is strangely mesmerising. The bank is scattered with thistles and daisies. I keep having to say hello to other dog walkers though and I’ve hit my quota of being in the mood for that.

A thistle looks fake when I photograph it - maybe I’m dreaming. Would I hear grasshoppers stridulate in a dream? Possibly.

I'm under the graffiti bridge now. I don’t want to greet another runner or cyclist, so I think about clambering up. It’s delightfully breezy and I probably could scale the fences - just not with a dog - so I walk on.

Luckily, I find a pretty little right of way sign. I leave the road and re-enter wilderness. It’s full of butterflies. The dog wants to go home. I stop as they flutter around me.

Now I’m in the almost exclusive use woods, listening to twigs break and birds chirrup. A buzz passes my ear. Far off, there are clomping sounds of work being done. Leaves are already covering the path - I’m always surprised that happens in summer.

Two cars reverse past my exit; a truck is stuck on the farm road. While someone negotiates who goes where, I nip past. I think I disguised my look of disdain. The dog just wants a dentastick though and has no time for fools. We cut through the friendly farm with the café and say hello to the donkeys, goats and lambs.

A few important phone calls interrupted the walk and the vibe went AWOL. In the group chat, someone had an eye injection this morning (with photos), another used my step count as a challenge while in Copenhagen and now has sore feet, one is in a meeting that's a "complete farce", and one went to a gin festival yesterday and hasn’t checked in yet. I should probably say something before I’m marked MIA myself.

Back home, the dog gets some chicken. I make turmeric tea (and have a KitKat) in the name of wellbeing, and deal with the concerns of the day while the dog gently snores.

Miles covered - 3.
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