walking

Walking in Poetry

March 5, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

5 Mar 2020 – noon GMT – 4°C Light Rain – Co. Dublin, Ireland

“A man who does not move with pain, but moves
With thought”

By Wordsworth, word sketching an Old Man Travelling and on a journey that perhaps“led to peace so perfect”.

I think Wordsworth got it right. Walking alone allows me relax, brings me peace, expands my horizons and makes me want to do it again.

Thank you CdF for “Ten Poems about Walking” (Candlestick Press), a great gift to be read before we set out towards Rome.

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Walking to Rome

March 2, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

2 Mar 2020 – noon GMT – 3°C Showers Nearby – Co. Longford, Ireland

The notion of long distance walking was already in my head in October 2017 when Chris W contacted me out of the blue. University friends meeting again after forty years of divergent life experiences.

I had long hoped to walk from Rome to Madrid, an idea that seemed reasonable when I found myself in Rome in 2010. I had taken a train one Sunday to Naples and walked from the station to the top of Vesuvius and back. Just 50 km but it got me thinking about the communications and logistics in the eras of the Roman Empire, Anglo-Saxon trade, Viking incursions to name a few.

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In Praise of Walking

March 1, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

1 Mar 2020 – noon GMT – 3°C Partly Cloudy – Co. Longford, Ireland

It’s March 1st. I’m reading ‘In Praise of Walking‘ by Shane O’Mara. A gift from my wife, I put off reading it until about a month before the next big walk.

In the first few pages he reminded me that French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote “I can only meditate when I am walking. When I stop, I cease to think; my mind only works with my legs”.

Rousseau must have given up walking sometime before 1778, long after he’d famously written on inequality and social contracts. He was a big influencer. French Revolution big. The Terror.

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