A WALK IN THE SUN

It is now 1650, but, looking through my window, you would not think so. The Sun is still alot higher in the sky than it would have been, had it not for the fact that it is late Spring, and it is, as they would say here, a beautiful Sunny day.  Yes, if you are indoors, as I am at present, you are likely to feel the humidity and the discomfort - not to be said too loudly, in case the Sun God gets angry and instruct the Rain God to punish us, as it did on Saturday, when the heavens opened up and the rain descended on us in torrents; so much so that parts of many roads were flooded) which is normally associated with this heat and lack of sufficient breeze.

Anyway, about two or so hours ago, my friend and I decided to go for a walk and enjoy what does feel like and is a lovely day.  We intended to go one way but, along the way, decided to change our planned route. On lovely Sunny days like these, it can be a joy having a walk, as there is more chances of you meeting neighbours and strangers who are more communicative. You stand more chances of saying 'Hi, neighbour', or, Hi, stranger', and getting a warm or friendly response; probably something like, 'Isn't it nice today?', to which I can respond, 'yes, it is beautiful'.

And so it was that, as my friend and I made our circuitous route through pedestrian paths and roads, and begin to admire and take in the beautiful colours of the leaves and flowers of the trees we passed along the way, we were greeted by a friendly man who was out walking his dog. He gregariously stretched forth his hand, which I shook heartily, as, with a beaming smile, he commented on me having dressed for winter - I had on a light cardigan, and suggested that I must have gotten accustomed to the English weather. 

This man was dressed in a short sleeve shirt. He and my friend and me had a mutually enjoyable couple of minutes exchanging pleasnatries. He seemed a genuinely nice person, but, had it not been for the Sun-induced euphoric moment, we might not have known that he might be a nice person, or him knowing that we might also be nice persons, because we might not have been presented with or taken the opportunity to share our basic humanity, simply by saying, 'hi, how are you'?

And as we took our leave of this gamely man and went our way, we met other people enjoying the Sun and some tending to their gardens. My friend made a a comment to a woman tending her garden, commenting on how hot her work was, and she pleasantly responded. We passed other people along the way and looked in their direction, hoping to see some facial or gestural invitation  for us to engage them in some euphoric banter, and, upon not detecting any, decided against taking the initiative. Passing woman on our side of the road and greeting her with a 'hi', we were rewarded with a grudging smile, which is not on par with a 'hi.'

On and on we went, finally ending up in Stonnal, which we walked around for about 10 or so minutes, before retracing our way back. By now we were sweating quite profusely and rather dreading the walk back, but we made it safely back and was better for the exercise, and the knowledge we have gained about the locality and the beautiful flora which we had seen.

At a time when loneliness can be such a common everyday reality for so many people, how better off we could all be, if only, as a rule, we all return to greeting people when we pass by on the street?

OWOHROD