STROLLING IN THE TOWN PARK IN NOVEMBER 2024
I go for my morning constitutional sans earplugs; sans phone or other distractable gadgetry attached to my head. I walk down the lane from our house on to the noisy footpath on Charlotte Row. I notice a middle-aged man crossing the road in front of Gorey district hospital wearing an outsized pair of black headphones while at the same time reading messages on his phone. He expects car drivers to avoid hitting him as he crosses the road. This irresponsible behaviour is quite irritating and dangerous.
I turn left and ahead of me are three teenage girls twittering at their phones which they held flat in front of them in their outstretched hands. They are enjoying their techie involvement with their phones but are totally oblivious of each other or of any other earthling inhabiting the space around them.
I pass the blue circular sign for the old Rams Arms Hotel [1700-1977] and turn left at the Garda Barrack. The three teenagers continued their way down to the traffic lights and the main street presumably for some social interaction with friends in local restaurants which is so nice to see.
My planned walk today brings me past the fire station, the community orchard, Sean Lios houses, and out on the Hollyfort road where I enter the town Park to walk my three and a bit laps on the outside track to clock up my morning 5K.As I walk around on my relaxed social stroll in the park I find it interesting to meet a variety of people and to observe their various idiosyncrasies.
I make a point of saluting everyone I meet with the same salutation ‘Good morning, how are you. The responses are varied. The first lady I met was in her mid-fifties and she was walking a miniature terrier. I greeted her and she ignored me, and her eyes were transfixed on the distant horizon. She quickened her walking pace as she passed me by.
The next person was walking a strong French bulldog which was putting her under pressure as Frenchie was trying to escape from the harness. She growled as she passed me by, but I wasn’t too sure whether she growled at me, her canine pet or herself for her inability to control her dog or maybe it was sheer frustration.
Further along the way I encountered a husband and wife walking two dogs and as I salute them, they stopped, and we chatted about life, tidy towns and our displeasure at people who use public litter bins to dispose of their household waste. We had a pleasant 10-minute encounter.
Two local sisters, whom I know well, and I meet regularly, passed by at a lively pace. We greeted each other cordially without breaking stride or the rhythm of our walk in this beautiful sun kissed park.
I am now coming up to the entrance to the doggy park and I detect a rise in the decibels of people walking in front of me. They were in a bit of a tangle because their dogs were not behaving cordially. One person owned a very fancy labra doodle, protagonist number two was in possession of a brownish French bulldog straining on his lead to get in and devour a Pekinese owned by a gentleman whose language was quite unbecoming and unparliamentary. I walked off path and kept my head down, but I could still hear the voices raised while they discussed keeping dogs on short leads. When I passed that way on my second lap there was a doggy truce and peace was restored to the world with not a bark or a growl to be heard.
As I went around the pond, I had a pleasant surprise when I met a lovely Scottish lady living in Gorey for many years. I first met her about 14 years ago when she was walking her dog, now aged 16 years, in Courtown. This lady was conversing with a friendly lady from Leeds who was walking her rescue dog. We spoke about doggy haircuts, doggy jackets and the boy who kicked the nun. It was a beautiful canine and human encounter. We bid farewell to the lady from Leeds and ambled along remembering friends who had died, and people who were ill. Meanwhile joggers pass us wearing a variety of gadgets on their arms measuring the distance and pace of their run. God be with the time when we went for a simple walk but now, we go for a 5K or 10k or whichever K takes you fancy and you burn off calories, you remain hydrated etc. It’s all good stuff, I suppose, once we are out exercising and socialising and absorbing vitamin D.
There was a bit of excitement around the next corner when we encountered a couple with hubby pushing a buggy and his wife was struggling to keep two very excited terriers restrained on leads. I think the dogs were of mixed pedigree. We stopped and chatted about the dogs and the couple’s baby in the buggy who was born 7 weeks premature but was progressing well. This couple were from London and were loving living in Gorey. We spoke about Trump and elections and so we sauntered off as I wanted to clock up my 5000-meter morning encounter with the great outdoors. I headed off at a good pace because I also had to get petrol for the lawnmower and be home in time to get lunch ready.
We dined on my speciality omelette at 2.30 pm which we both enjoyed. Dining was slightly later than advertised, a whole hour, but who cares. I had stopped and spoken to many people and had a pleasant time on a nice sunny winters day in the immaculately maintained very busy Gorey /Kilmuckridge district park. We will cherish days like these. Oh yes, and for the record, at day’s end I had clocked up a grand total of 11780 steps. Now there’s walking for you and you know what, I felt good after the exertion. I like the park walk because its level, safe and you can walk as many laps as you like. There are always people about and it has the added attraction of having an excellent coffee pod and toilet facilities.
Bhain mé taitneamh as. Slán go fóill agus bígí ag siúl.
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