An Autumn Day

A pleasant walk along the banks of the river Divie today with two companions. There was a touch of 'Last of the Summer Wine' about our little group and I felt little like Compo at times. That it should have come to this!   LOL. The autumn colours were splendid in places. Photos from my smart phone (first 3 the same scene):

Rob's Boy Scout instinct...

Following the river we came to a steel wire with pulley wires strung across the water. We mused for a while about its use and location of any chair. Rob assessed its tightness and various methods of using such a convenience were aired. Later at a large Beech tree, Rob produced a rope and we proceeded to measure the girth. Once home we looked up the formula and ascertained the age of the tree to be about 230 years...

Like the trio in 'Last of...' we rounded off the trip with a visit to a tea shop.

There is much  in this unfolding of the day; the rubbing along of partly disparate partly similar folk, connecting with nature, the refreshment found in tea and company, the passing of the afternoon and seasons, ageing, the boyish interest in ropes and measuring, looking things up and working things out... And it crossed my mind a few times during the walk 'how open are our eyes to this day?'; this seeing is not just with the eyes either, but with the whole body-mind. Thoughts, emotions, judgements, sights, sounds and other sensations; all pass by. DC and others too were in my thoughts. My attention as ever changing 'size' and focus. I slipped at one point and getting up and  dusting myself down I caught myself just starting to criticize myself for not paying attention. But that had passed by the time we sat with refreshments and met others we knew. The autumn sun gave a memory of summer and a gentle benevolence to the day. Shared contemplation of the fishing paths by the river, of the past workings of large country estates, of the detailing of stonework and the profitability or otherwise of the bookshop across from the cafe / tea shop... This unfathomable mystery of connection and separation, warmth and meaning, isolation /individuation .