Lots of Walking

Every day I am here, reaffirms the importance of having experiences - not just reading/watching them (living vicariously) like I normally do...

Hiking and I have a love-but-mostly-hate relationship.

I walked all over - close to six miles today - up, down, sideways sometimes, hiking in and out of crevices and "crags" -
It was clear to me today how much my head gets in the way of my life... To be honest, I have a mental block when it comes to hiking - I just believe that I am not a good hiker and so then I avoid going and when I do, I have to work extra hard to enjoy it. I am pretty sure I have the physical stamina, but for some reason it just stresses me out.
Remember to pause: I decided today it was ok to pause as often as I wanted - as long as I kept moving forward. And, I enjoyed hiking more. Though, I stopped like 3-4 times as many times as everyone else I've ever hiked with...
Then, when I was reexamining my life choices, and had decided to go back (literally the top was in view...) I had to have a long prayerful chat about life, what I was afraid of, which when examined, turned out to just... be in my head... and then I was able to keep going. After this, I set myself easy goals - the first was a time goal "If I'm not at the top by 2 o'clock, I can turn around and go home" - then it got even more granular - "ok, move up like 15 feet and you can pause again, just get to that rock"

But, I did it. I made it to the top, and I never sat down though my brain really wanted to. Of course it wasn't as difficult as I was making it out to be, and I have been much more tired from other adventures. I didn't take the easiest way up, and obviously I didn't take the hardest way. But I made it, and for me, that was huge.

Dog stories - the first was a "wee pup" - and hadn't quite learned the art of staying with his master. Poor guy. Adorable dog, seriously. The little pup, whose name I couldn't understand, would wander off - meet new friends, find things to explore, and his owner would call his name over and over and over, and wait for the dog. Who, mostly, ignored him until it was convenient. The owner was so embarrassed, but I thought it was cute to see the pup learning and loving his little adventure. The second cute dog was much more obedient. The owner sat him down, and then proceeded to walk away. And as the distance kept getting longer, I was getting more nervous that the dog was being abandoned, which I recognized then didn't make sense but she was really quite far from the dog, almost out of sight, before she turned, called, and the joyful dog ran to join her. It was precious to watch. Also, I saw a cute little Italian greyhound and a whippet, and an actual greyhound today. The Italian greyhound was wearing a little jacket. I miss my doggie. It was so fun to watch these dogs play with their owners all over the hills of Holyrood Park.

There were also very pretty birds - I missed my momma and wished she could tell me what kinds there were.

How I knew it was time to go home... haha... well, I was sitting up on the top, on a ledge (which probably should have freaked me out...), when I started noticing all the midges. Then I was itchy (power of suggestion), and then noticed a bug crawling on me. So, I flicked it off, was getting grossed out, when my finger grazed some bird droppings... gross gross gross gross gross gross gross. That was enough nature for me. And I got up and headed down. And then back up. And then down again. :) Oh - and then up and up and up the Royal Mile again to catch my bus.

THE END.

...oh and I slipped and fell... :( And it really hurt. And then I was muddy all the way home and a "wee bit" sore. Ok. That's it. The end.

Now for pictures - I really did try to narrow it down...

Edinburgh Castle - loved looking at it. It looks like it grew out of the rocks. It didn't... But it is on top of an old volcano, which is pretty great.

This is the world's first "Flower Clock". Pretty sweet, no? And yes, it was 12:00 when I took the picture. Right on time.

So. There are a lot of paths throughout Holyrood Park - but not all of them go to the summit of Arthur's Seat. This was one of those, that I happened to walk all the way down before having to turn around (take a picture), and walk back. Haha.

This was taken as I was reevaluating my life choices. And saw a cute Italian Greyhound - which both cheered me and made me homesick. So, there you go. It was soon after this that I decided not to wimp out and continue to the top.

See? Not that far, right? Sometimes I wonder about my sanity. Granted, the path didn't go straight up this, but around the back - but I was really almost there. Prayer works, guys. I found the mental strength to keep going. :)

Aye, I made it. And thought this was fun so I took a picture...

Hmmm... I don't think you can see this well... But it was a panorama from the tip top... Ok.

I don't know what was up with my cell phone camera - I haven't mastered "selfies" on my nice camera - but it washed me out. Oh well. Try not to judge me too harshly, I was quite tired... :)

Can you see the little bird or berries in this photo? There were lots of birds, berries, and beautiful flowers all over the park. So glad I went 

(and glad I don't have to do it again... sorry... I totally recommend it, it just was a lot of work to convince myself to keep going...)

One of the crags. It was so cool to walk right next to these cliffs

The sun even came out for me. And you can see some blue skies - which is quite rare I'm told. I was very blessed to have been able to hike today, all things considered. 

Made it down to the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen (when she stays in Edinburgh, that is)

And this is the official Scottish Parliament building right across the street. It's newer, obviously. They only really had a parliament building starting in the 1990's or so, so the architecture is quite different. Haha.