Sunday ambles..

Exercise...

I think my sore knee is coming right. Last Sunday I went for a jog/walk with my friend. During the week I biked into town and back. I went up my mountain (Mt Cargill) via the Organ Pipe track on Wednesday. Yesterday I enjoyed a walk up the mountain from Bethunes Gully, a much longer distance. We had our normal Sunday run tonight, a bit abbreviated, and my knee felt good and I felt good running. (Did not look good though, my friend took a photo of me from behind!) I think I may be able to run regularly again, I hope so.

"My" mountain...

I have had two walks up Mount Cargill this week. I am probably boring going up there all of the time. You may be saying to yourself, "Why doesn't he walk somewhere else?" I will at times but the mountain still works for me. I can walk what ever track I choose, the long one or short one and each is about 5 - 10 minutes in the car from where I live. It is easily accessible. But, and I am not sure how to explain this, it simply "does it" for me. On Wednesday evening I walked up beginning with "writers block" on a radio service I was preparing. I walked up with mixed up mind and heart after my Christchurch post-earthquake experience. By the time I had come down I had sorted the service and gone a long way to settling my head on the aftermath of the earthquake. Yesterday I walked the long way up, a consistent climb that has your heart rate thumping if you keep at it. It was an enjoyable challenge to keep pushing myself. When I reached the top and wandered around I was amazed by how much I enjoyed the familiar view. I watched a ship berth at the Dunedin wharf. I could see miles in every direction I looked. The view, no matter how familiar, still enthralls me. By the time I reached the car park again, I had sorted out my Sunday sermon. I encountered two dads taking their children up the Organ Pipe track to the top. I loved watching the kids enjoying the scenery and the triumph of having completed the walk. One little boy, with bare feet, grinned from ear to ear as he excitedly told me that he and his friend walked under "that big thing up there". (The radio mast) Ten out of ten to the dads for helping their kids enjoy such activity. Mount Cargill still works for me, it is good for body, mind and soul!

A lovely gesture...

I was intrigued when I visited my chaplaincy sites this week. At both the Fire Service and St John Ambulance, the rumour had spread that I had gone to Christchurch and spent time there. I was a bit like a Zombie early in the week, some one described me as "there but somehow not there... spaced out." One of the team leaders at St John talked with my wife when they saw each other at the emergency department at the hospital. He asked her how I was after my Christchurch experience. On Thursday he rang me and invited me to a coffee bar for coffee. "You are always there for us, someone should be there for you when you need it." he reasoned. He asked questions and listened. I loved the fact that he thought to do it, and I felt accepted and acknowledged through the whole experience.

Photo: I love the tree lined track and the little foot bridge as you come back into Bethunes Gully.

I don't have photos of Christchurch devastation be cause we decided that we were not there to "rubberneck", that it was somehow disrespectful to take photos. Also no photos could do justice to the sense of devastation there. You have to "be there".