This week, as the Prime Minister has set out a 'roadmap' out of lockdown, I've been thinking about something I am really looking forward to, and that's more exploring by map. One of my favourite things in the world is following paths.
Old familiar paths are wonderful, but my favourite kind are the ones I've never walked on before. You just never know what you're going to find! My favourite way of discovering new paths is to look on a map, then go and explore it for real.
Sometimes the way is really clear, but sometimes it's little more than a darker green strip in the grass. And sometimes there is nothing visible. Then you just have to trust that the mapmaker is telling the truth and if you follow the way, you'll get to your destination.
But the important thing is to enjoy the journey, noticing the new things you see and making new discoveries. Because, as Bilbo Baggins famously said in J.R.R Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring,
“The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say”
Here's a selection of the paths I've walked on over the last twelve months. Click on the arrows to see the bigger picture (clue: the first one is hidden in the wintry tree trunks!)