Appling and Walking as October arrives ...

That's it then, another month ends, October begins, as appling happens in an orchard in nearby Frosterley and Adrian, the kind owner of it agrees the trees indeed flowered later for three of them, and the mossy grass cushioned them as they fell to the ground, assisted by the wind. Pick up as many as you like, he said, and the rucksack was stuffed full yesterday and the day before ... great training since the weight was probably slightly more than when carrying everything required on Camino, which still calls me ... never mind, there are plenty of pilgrim routes in England and Scotland awaiting walking and the feet are itching for a try before winter, which is many weeks away, and anyway, winter walking is wonderful also, especially with light snow laying and Sun shining, reflecting the crystals sparkling everywhere ...

September 2021 was energising and frankly these many months of pandemic madness have stirred the blood and taught me many lessons about myself, which is the first task of philosophy according to Aristotle: Know Thyself! It's an ongoing project, of course, and fascinating, since how else may we understand the others if we don't understand ourselves? Enough of all that me and mine malarkey, that's more or less under control these days, which enables love to flow in amazing ways, beyond the romantic notions of happy ever after Hollywood myths, and finding peace in blessèd solitude, with interludes of storytelling with other human beings.

As often said re vitC, supplements may help, but blackberries and apples stored away for the winter are more beneficial for many reasons, including the joys of foraging organic food in the Sun where vitD is stored and no money is required at all. There's still some weeks of that activity ahead and apple pressing possible again. Last year's Apple Wine, bottled by Malcolm a neighbour and friend, from the juice pressed with Mark up on the Roman Wall, was sampled a while ago and was delicious when shared at lunch with friends ... a sharing economy undermines the trap of the money economy, which surely works for me and others hereabouts.

Wandering in Nature may be considered a remedy for all sorts of ailments, and indeed it can be, especially for city dwellers and other humans staying indoors staring at screens, ordering takeaways and popping pills to allay the existential misery of civilised living. Nature is natural, by definition. Humans, though, thinking themselves separate from it, created fantasy worlds leading to ecstasy, misery, heavens, hells, scarcity, poverty, plenty, excess wealth, good, evil, dark, light and so on. You don't see trees doing that, or bees or birds flying south for winter ... fish swimming upstream to spawn ... are they worried, do you think? And do you think? And can thinking stop, ever? Now, that's a question philosophers ask, but it's not for them to answer, is it?

Yes, you guessed it dear readers! That's for you to discover for yourself. Good luck!