FiToday has been a weird one.
I had a decent sleep last night so felt vaguely human today.
I decided to get an early bus to town before the cinema, so I could have some lunch. On the bus I got a text from the chemist to say my pills were ready to collect.
This is where the day all changed. I run out of one of my meds tomorrow and wouldn't be able to collect them until Thursday due to other things going on. So I hopped off the bus in Newport on Tay so I could get my meds.
A horrid walk up the very steep hill to the chemist, got the meds. I then had a choice to make....walk back down the hill and wait 45 minutes for the next bus, or walk the bridge.
Oh stupid, stupid me. I could walk along the "top" of Newport to the footpath leading to the bridge that runs alongside the dual carriageway, thankfully the path is up a hill from the busy road and is quite lovely with lots of plants. The first photo shows my view from there.
Now, I've not been doing a lot of walking lately due to stupid health problems. I struggle to walk round a supermarket. But hey, the sun was shining, how bad could it be.
The second photo was taken from about the quarter way point on the bridge. My feet were killing me since I had on thin soled canvas shoes. My back and hip were pinging as well, along with that bit of my thigh that twists and screams. Regrets were occurring.
By the halfway point, I was done, but its a bridge, there is nowhere to sit down. The bridge is closed often with people in distress, so I had that worry that if I took a break to sit, the bridge might close. This bridge is approximately 1.4 miles long. I had to keep going. Luckily I had both walking sticks with me, I was getting seriously wobbly and cursing myself for being so stupid.
From this point, the bridge seemed never ending but it always does, I've walked it a lot over the years. A lovely cyclist went past in the opposite direction and gave me what I took to be a friendly and encouraging smile, as if she knew my pain and was saying that I could do it. It did give me a boost.
Finally the end was in sight, then the choice of take the lift or stairs to street level. Well, I know the lift breaks often, so it was the awful stairs down. It is cool looking underneath the bridge at the pillars.
A seat was in sight, okay, it was the wall at the edge of the river, but it had a perfect space for me to park my ass. The third photo is the view of the bridge from my perch.
From there it was a 20 minute walk to the cinema and a perfectly relaxed film - Four Letters of Love. I had a weird moment during the film where I was confused about where I was and what I was watching. The film though, I thought it was beautiful, I can't describe how it made me feel. It was poetic, lovely, it made me feel like I was being covered and filled with poetry - that makes no sense but I don't know how else to describe it.
Despite the pain of the walk, I have had a good day and I am proud of myself for achieving it, even if I do want to chop off my feet now. I was very glad to get home, have food and enjoy some chill time with the child.
I do want to push to do walks like that more often, but perhaps they will be planned so I will have the right shoes on.
