I don't know where I went last weekend, but I loved it so much I haven't stopped thinking about it since. Luckily for Matt and I, his parents have a lovely house in the middle of nowhere (nowhere is not really a good name for Somerset), and they are away for weeks. We pounced on the opportunity to while away a weekend in the countryside, and it was wonderful.We arrived on Friday night, and I fell asleep on the sofa, waking up in complete disorientation as I found myself in pitch black and near silence. Bristol never gets like that. I was a bit scared. But I soon got used to blissful solitude, emerging from bed at 1pm on Saturday, as we had no clock in the room and there were no city noises to rouse us. We scrambled up the hill behind the house, where we were exposed to breathtaking winds. A walk incorporating smell, touch, sight and sound reminded me that I am actually alive, not just existing to pay the bills. I took delight in the many smells of woodland, gorse and leaves, the softness of moss and the scratchiness of bushes on my legs, the wind whipping around my face and the expanse of space which stretches for miles. It's difficult to describe, but having sea, trees and wildlife around you feels like sustenance for the soul after weeks cycling to work up busy roads from St Paul's to Stoke Bishop.
We ate a huge salad for lunch (at 5pm) and had friends around to pass the evening playing board games and drinking cider. Sunday brought another walk, through woods of silver birch, oak and pine trees, and the cooking and eating of a veggie roast before the drive back to Bristol, to face life and its many emails.
I am now on a quest to escape the city. Luckily, my work experience is mostly in jobs which do not require me to be here for long. I hope I can make it work!
