By: Blonde Two

You would imagine that after a weekend of gales, mud and damp loo roll, the Two Blondes would be glad to be back inside at work again.  This would appear not to be so.  We had a Ten Tors staff debrief meeting at lunchtime on Monday during which, we sat quietly after agreeing that we were too tired to get any sensible words out and ate up a lot of the left over cake.

Blonde One said something that echoed almost exactly what I was feeling (this happens a lot) – she said that despite all of the horrid weather, it felt wrong to be inside.

The Great Outdoors gets to you in a way that no inside pursuit seems to (well ok, I can think of one).  If you write it Great Out Doors then its initials are GOD – interesting eh? Maybe we were never meant to move into houses in the first place.  I go outside to cure just about anything that might be wrong with me from grumpiness to headaches  to period pains.

My Nan emigrated to New Zealand when she was 80.  She used to love to sit in the New Zealand sun and watch the birds.  She said that the sky in New Zealand was very big – she was right, the sky seems a lot bigger over there and it makes you feel very good when you go out under it.  Maybe that is where the Great Out Doors factor comes from – maybe it is contact with the sky that we crave.

I read once that long views are good for us, that staring into the distance should be a part of everybody’s week.  We certainly didn’t have long views to stare at this weekend but they do induce in me a state of calm.  I think that we instinctively head for the top of a hill or the edge of a cliff for just that reason – our sub-conscious knows that a good old gaze at a long view will give our heads a much needed sorting out.  Lemmings must have very sorted-out heads just before they completely lose the plot and jump over the cliff.

Even on a dark, rainy day, the G.O.D. can sort you out – once you are out in it (in the right clothes) it isn’t so bad.  Rain on grass smells lovely, I had a friend who loved the smell of rain on tarmac and would go outside especially to inhale it.  The feeling of rain on your face can be refreshing and if combined with the wind, will certainly wake you up from any type of tired state.

Of course one of the best things about the G.O.D. especially in bad weather, is coming home again … the fire, the sofa, the bath – knowing that all of these insidey things exist makes the G.O.D. even more lovely.  Even the Two Blondes Walking – just occasionally reserve the right to be Two Blondes on the Sofa with Cushions and a Cup of Tea (B2) or Coffee (B1).