Shared a great morning walk with a friend today. 2024 is going to be friends appreciation year, of old friends and new. I can’t decide whether this friend is old or new, I think she’s a bit of both! We’ve known each other for years from playing in the same orchestra, but have recently connected over the last couple of years as we both volunteer for a local open access centre supporting Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions.
She has been an Expedition Assessor for a lot longer than me, and I greatly appreciated her taking me down the footpaths the young people use on their practice expeditions and pointing out the various hidden entrances and confusing places where they easily get lost. It was a nice little 10km circular ramble from Lynsted to Rodmersham (in Kent), with a stop at a cafe for a cheeky sausage and bacon muffin 😊
If not for DofE, I would have never met some great people or known about all the amazing walks, beautiful landscapes and cute villages that are just on my doorstep. One good thing that came out of COVID for me is realising the importance of getting out in the fresh air to blow those cobwebs away, and better appreciating the world around me. Often we walk with our heads down, hurrying from one thing to another, and it’s good for the soul to look up sometimes and take a minute to appreciate “life, the universe and everything”.
Elizabeth Mooney 