Feelings

Moray Outfitting

Well-Known Member
Many on this forum can call themselves true country folk. Many of you will remember Bogtrotters wonderful article about the feeling some of us get as the year goes on and we get that urge to head to the hills for the stags. We can have feelings for various reasons and here is what happened to me recently. First of all I need to set the scene for you. I have had problems with my back for a while now. Bottom three vertebrae moving out of line. On the 1st of February I went into Aberdeen and went through an operation where they have put screwed rods into my back to hold it all together. Part of the recovery process is going for 2 walks everyday. No problem for someone who spends a lot of time hiking the hills. So I split the walks into the hard and easy sections. In the morning I yomp up the forest track. This is a 1 in 4/5 slope ( Sorry don't do the new percentages for inclines). This is a good work out, enough to draw sweat. Then in the afternoon I do a flat section . This has been enough for the recovery process. The weather hasn't been good but I just put on the boots and jacket , grab the walking stick and head off with the dog. (Bavarian crossed with a Border terrier. Don't ask !! )
So just over a week ago the weather turned to clear frosty mornings followed by warm days. I went out on my normal morning walk up the steep section. Then in the afternoon as I went out I thought because it was such a lovely day , I would do the steep walk again. Felt good once I got to the top but 3/4 of the way back I started to feel sore . I turned to the dog and said " I think we have gone too far this time" . Common guys , admit it . We all blether to our dogs out there. By the time I got home I was certainly feeling the pain from the walk, and the pain from the other half going on about going too far!! So I went and took the happy pills and an hour later the world felt a better place again.
The next morning I got up and knew that I had been a wee bit over the top the day before. The whole body felt very stiff. The pain wasn't too bad. I decided that I would give the morning walk and the hill a rest for the day. But come around 10.30 the dog was giving me grief for not taking him for his morning walk. You know , HIS morning walk. The day was again beautiful and I am not one to hang about the house if I can help it. So I decided on the flat section for a wee walk. It was good to get out of the house and as I got going I noticed that the birds were singing their hearts out at the tops of the trees. A bit further on hundreds of geese flew over my head. They seemed to be heading north again. Always an evocative sound. Then a bit further on I was aware of this sound.. Even the dog stopped suddenly and cocked his head to try and work out what it was. I took a few more steps along the road and suddenly realised it was frogs. There must have been over a hundred frogs in the ditch, in the puddles on the road, crossing the road and coming out of the trees. The noise was all the male frogs croaking. As we got very close the noise was fantastic. I have been in the country most of my life but never have I come across so many making such a noise. I kept walking and every ditch with water was absolutely full of frogs. I eventually turned and came back past them all again. I got to a point where the sun was beating down on the road and stood for a moment.. There was a bit of heat about it. I stood and enjoyed everything that was going on around me. The birds singing, frogs croaking, wood peckers drumming on the trees , the cushy doos cooing away and the warm sun. Perfect recovery medication. It was then that I had the Feeling that at last we had turned the corner from winter to spring. Yes we may get snow yet up here , but nature was also telling me that they have to get on with life's cycle.
Its all these things that make working out there so enjoyable and at times give you those Feelings that are so hard to describe to someone else..

Footnote. The back still has a way to go , so I will apologise now to anyone that comes to see us at Kelso. If I do not get up off my seat to talk to you , it will be because I am giving the back a rest. Mind you Andy will probably say to you that nothing is any different from when my back was ok !! If you see me dancing around the hall with a smile on my face . You will then know that I am on the heavy duty happy pills !!!................John
 
For me this feeling always comes with the changing of the clock. Thr first time I realise that I have time after tea to go out in the garden or take the dogs for a wander.
 
MO what a cracking write up!! I, together with others on the site (and not) will immediately recognise your experience, and up until now it is all Freeeeee!!

Many many years ago (over 46 years in fact) we used to holiday in Morayshire ("Forres") and spent wonderful times walking and fishing the Findhorn. we liked the place that much we have named all of our houses "Forres" ever since, and I even tried unsucessfully to get a job as a Stalker/gamekeeper in the location

This article you have just written brings back brilliant memories, thank you MO, and I truly hope your back improves. I like you enjoy walking the hills & the fells, and I do believe that you can actually "walk off" a bad back, but not doing strenious walks as you have described. Keep well

ATB
patrickt
 
had that same good feeling on Sunday evening sat in the wood up a seat with nature going about it's business even had a roe buck and a doe sniff my sticks at the bottom of the seat .came home feeling good about the world without having to fire a shot ....arhhh bisto
N
 
Great write up and much appreciated - hope the back is transformed quickly and you get your old 'legs' back again.
The change to spring for me is seeing the primroses in profusion and a few cowlsips coming through, the ducks on the pond start getting aggressive and the cock pheasants appear from nowhere to fight in the garden and fields nearby. 2 days ago I saw the kingfisher back at the pond and that was the clincher. Something is stirring and there frogspawn in the pond.
 
Thanks Guys, Always good to know that there are others out there with the same ideas and feelings close to their hearts...John
 
Yeah - thanks guys. He admits he's going to spend Kelso 'just' sat down, drinking tea and doing drugs.... and you just encourage him! How come I'm the fat one? ;)
 
John, my best wishes for a speedy recovery. It certainly lifts the spirit when the signs of spring come around again. Sorry to say I will not be at the fair. Its a fair old stomp from down here, plus I have a Level 1 course I am running with Jon Snowdon over that weekend.

Take care, and hope you are back to full strength soon.

ATB
Malc
 
I'm toying with the idea of having mine done. Office job seems to make it worse, though when I'm working at home or had a week of physical activity, it feels better. I weigh up the bit of pain with the risk of not being able to walk. Maybe I will when I'm older..but not yet.
 
Very nice John. See you in kelso for a chat, and i am sure you will soon be walking my arse off in Caithness, almost certainly directly away from the deer i can see!
 
For me it's the smells, there is a distinct sweet musty smell when the Spring sun gains enough strength to penetrate through the canopy to the forest floor.
Can't beat it :)
 
Malc - Jon Snowden with you? So I've got a chair bound, drugged ( Ok I've been putting Butches Bore Shine in his tea for years ) 'Boss' ( ha ha! ), no Dundee Cake AND now I find Jon S has baled out - quite possibly just to avoid buying that Mars bar he promised me 3 years ago and not least meaning its down to me to pull funny faces at Brian L whilst he's trying to do smoothie interbiews to camera....

Still - no Jayb to watch out for...:D
 
I'm toying with the idea of having mine done. Office job seems to make it worse, though when I'm working at home or had a week of physical activity, it feels better. I weigh up the bit of pain with the risk of not being able to walk. Maybe I will when I'm older..but not yet.

I would recommend (from personal experience) trying everything else before getting a back operation. I was told several years ago (when I was only 29 and physically fit) that it was inevitable that I would need my discs "shaved" because two were impinging on my spinal chord, but that the chance of partial paralysis was 1 in 50, odds which I didn't fancy much. I've had to put a lot of effort into sorting things out, and I find that if I let my fitness deteriorate then I get more pain, so I have to keep my general fitness and core fitness in particular up to scratch. In the office I use something called a McKenzie D-roll on my chair to maintain posture. A lot of folk with back pain swear by pilates, yoga (especially ashtanga (sp?)) or calaesthenics, just to keep the core strong. If I look after myself I can do whatever I want, including dragging the occasional deer, with no pain and have no intention in having surgery if I can avoid it.

Back to the OP. That was a nicely written post, one which I can relate to. I can't call myself a true countryman, after all I work in an office five days per week, but I do like to spend as much time as possible outside and I got "the feeling" about three weeks ago when I started noticing the bird activity increasing. I enjoy hearing the birds singing in the morning at this time of year, seeing the buds coming out, seeing more roe in the fields instead of tucked up in the woods. Like you, I've never seen so many frogs as I have this year - in one pool alone last weekend my family counted over 50. I hope that you make a full and speedy recovery from your back surgery.
 
John - great post, and it is a truly heart warming time of year when you see everything bouncing back after winter. Too many folk just don't take the time to stop and enjoy it.

Unfortunately, thanks to Feughs post, I now have this image in my head of you trying yoga. I wont go into details but it'll take more than this cuppa to get rid of that :D
 
John, plus I have a Level 1 course I am running with Jon Snowdon over that weekend.

Malc......if you wish I can give you and JW a helping hand with the single Malt!!!!. as I have done in the past at Greenlee & other locations, where I can not recall (can't think why). Enjoy your time with Jon, a true gent, and well read to boot!

Patrickt
 
Unfortunately, thanks to Feughs post, I now have this image in my head of you trying yoga. I wont go into details but it'll take more than this cuppa to get rid of that :D

One doesn't have to wear a leotard or yoga pants to practise yoga. But I'm sure that some find it liberating :D
 
Co1, I will see if I can get a picture for you. He is not too bad. Takes after the bavarian side.:) That is until there is something to chase, just like a terrier.:(..John
 
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