Sunday, March 27, 2005

Destination inevitable

Twice in a row now I have set out on what is to be a short walk, having considered and rejected some distant destination as too far away for the time available. Both times I have taken a wrong turn and gotten lost, to end up hours later strangely close to where I decided not to go (having taken much longer to get there than if I had simply followed my first impulse).

Both times I have had to fight through filthy steep swamps and prickly undergrowth only to be rewarded by the kind of treasurable experiences that the land here seems very generous with... a series of ferneries... a kiwi burrow... three windswept totoara like sculpture on a bare hilltop... a big golden full moon rising and dipping in front of me as I walk between dark hills towards home.

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