Looking for a bit of peace

This was the brooding sky at Trelissick this afternoon, very grey and full of the promise of rain. It was windy too. I rode over on my bike to try and get rid of rather a lot of pent up energy that seems to have been building lately. Don't ask where it's all come from, but I suspect it may have something to do with laying in bed for days on end doing bugger all, except wondering when the world will come to an end. Since that obviously hasn't happened yet, I thought I might as well force myself to go and take a look at it. When I left the front door I had no idea where I was going and just seemed to end up here. I was anticipating the bucolic scene you might expect in a country park, but forgot it was a Sunday afternoon and would be full of people walking their dogs and noisy infants. There were also rather a lot of those strange people called 'elderly folk'; god they can be slow. I suppose you'd expect to find them at a National Trust property so I don't know why I was surprised to see so many en masse, but it felt like they'd all crawled out of the woodwork at once. Scary. The thought that I may be one one day is even scarier, so I've decided to make sure that doesn't happen: I really don't want to do what's expected of me and follow the crowd any more (did I ever?) . Bugger that: do I look like a sheep? (Rhetorical, just in case you thought you might answer that!)

Anyhow, I chained up the bike, wandered off down the hill, looking at the spectacular view out across the river to the sea, until I eventually scared off enough of the scary woodworky things with scowling, murderous looks you would die for. Then I stole their bench and laid down on it from end to end, just to be sure that one of them didn't come and bother me. Then, I peacefully went to sleep... Er, that bit's a lie: I suspect that while I was there I looked like I would fit in perfectly well with the peculiar old bunch, mumbling away to myself in a fluorescent yellow windproof. Either that or someone should have gone and got me a straight jacket. God knows how long I was there, but I did notice one of Kim's teachers pass by and give me strange smile...she had a funny looking little dog with her. When I finally 'came round', I realised I was beginning to get very wet: soaking. It was pouring a fine rain at an oblique angle and all those little critters had been driven back into the woodwork whence they came, and finally there I was all on my lonesome. The trouble was that by this time I was beginning to feel cold and the light was fading fast. Back up the hill, on the bike and back home: that hour or so's ride, that was perfect peace.