With the aid of Elizabeth’s stick
I managed to walk the whole length of Downton Lane and back.
A cyclist passed me on the way down, and was himself
overtaken by a car.
As they approached the bend, round came another bicycle The pedallers made a neat vehicle sandwich and no harm was done.
Across neighbouring fields parked vans
could be seen. At any time of the year you will always see one carrying campers on this lay-by.
The road narrows and bends at the bridge over the
shallow stream now barely visible beneath the scrub. It is quite difficult for a pedestrian to hug the narrow verge, especially when not wishing to grasp the metal rail that someone else might have touched.
After leaving the bridge I passed this friendly young couple approaching it. They seemed to have understood the principle of social distancing in the time of Corvid.
On my return back up the hill I passed a comma butterfly enjoying a mud bath provided by
an underground stream irrigating the tarmac.
One border entrance to Shorefield Country Park appeared to be quite effectively closed.
While I followed a cock pheasant trotting up the lane (biggification will reveal him keeping to the right hand verge) I noticed the two young people holding a conversation in the distance. As I approached I rather expected them to move over a bit to let me pass.
When they shifted just a little to avoid a passing cyclist who had been forced onto the wrong side of the road, it became apparent that my assumption had been erroneous.
The standing couple stepped back again after the cyclist had gone. When I arrived I stood quietly in front of the vehicle, slightly to the right. It appears that I was invisible. Eventually I said “I don’t think you are giving me two metres to pass”. The pedestrians laughed, “It’s not funny”, I calmly announced. There were two women in the car. The driver cried “He’s my son. I haven’t seen him for a long time”. Raising my voice a little to make sure she heard me, I replied “I’ve seen him twice today. The first time I thought he’d got the idea, but clearly not”.
The driver started the engine and drove on as I stepped aside. The couple continued on up the hill. I called to them “You didn’t need to go right away. I just wanted space to past.”
Making no reply they walked on in silence. As so often when a third party makes an unnecessary intervention, the situation is escalated.
It was only when I uploaded this last photograph that I noticed the sign in the window.
In the meantime Jackie photographed
two Japanese painted ferns;
the budding Cordeline Australis;
a very hairy caterpillar;
a tellima grandiflora;
a red leaved pieris;
an enlarged camassia;
and a pigeon perched on the weeping birch.
This evening we dined on moist smoked haddock; piquant cauliflower and broccoli cheese; boiled Jersey Royal potatoes; bright green spinach; and flaming orange carrots, with which Jackie drank Peroni and I drank Wairau Cove Sauvignon Blanc 2019.