These boots are made for walkin’

The hills are still there, and I can still climb them. Maybe not all the way to the top just yet – meanwhile there are valleys and lakes to enjoy when we are all allowed out again.

This is the view from my shower. The ridge you can see in the distance is a Lakeland fell called Blencathra or Saddleback (2,848 feet). It’s comforting to know that even with the most powerful of binoculars people strolling up Blencathra can’t see me in the shower. The Lake District offers 214 peaks or ‘Wainwrights’ above 1,000 feet that are popular targets to ‘bag’.

Many of these peaks are currently beyond my ability. And we are all being encouraged to ‘stay low, stay local’ until COVID restrictions ease up. But watch that word ‘currently’! My husband Robin can scamper up and down the fells like a mountain goat. I have fell-running  friends who can knock off a couple of peaks at great speed before breakfast.  I know triathletes who breeze up and down Helvellyn (3,117 feet) after a lake swim and a bike ride that includes a 1 in 5 hill called The Struggle. They cross the line looking fresh as daisies and ready to do it all again.

I’ve always been slower and more cautious, but in the summer of 2019 I slowed right down, almost to a stop. On the up, I lacked the arm strength to clamber up rocky bits. I struggled at stiles and gates. On the down, I had to risk assess every step while the rest of my group was itching to get to the pub. So once-pleasurable activities became soulless plods.

But these boots are made for walkin’, and that’s just what they’ll do. I’ve worked to build up arm strength for clambering and using poles; and developed an even, balanced gait. I’m recruiting friends to join me on ‘walks for the wobbly’ – challenging but safe outings suitable for anyone with a balance problem. Let me know your favourites.  A decent pub, tea shop or distillery at the end is a bonus – let’s hope this summer sees them all open again safely.

PLAY >These boots are made for walkin’ > Nancy Sinatra

I read recently that the pop tune that defines your life is the one that was Number One in the charts in the week of your 14th birthday (you can look yours up here). I’m so sorry if it turns out to be Spitting Image’s Chicken Song (May 1986 ) or Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West (December 1971).

Mine is the inspirational These boots are made for walkin’ with its menacing bass riff and Nancy’s loud ‘ha’ scoffing the idea that you can play with fire without getting burnt. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.