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Walk No.29

Route: A circular walk around Totnes
Duration: An hour and a half
Time of day: Afternoon

Seagulls: I tune into the cacophony of seagulls above.  I love their sound.  It brings me back to safety.  It's familiar.  It means home, whatever that is.

Fishchowters'/Fishcheaters' Lane: Brilliant bit of walking related history - this green lane dates back to medieval times when fisher-people walked this way to the market as an alternative route to avoid paying taxes at the tollbooth.  I particularly like it because you don't often see other people....

Black Cat:   Another walking superstition.  The dog chases any luck away.  It's interesting that her fixation with the cat gives her such a strong purpose of direction, she deviates according to her desires or compulsions.

Grass: She finds another purpose.  Eating grass growing in lines through the paving stones.  Although it's disconcerting when your dog eats grass I drift off, thinking it's poetic how this grass tenaciously forces itself up through the concrete surface.

Library: Walking to the library I always feel a sense of freedom entering the courtyard.  This is truly common ground.  Everyone is equal here.  It feels safe. These spaces are rare.  Scarily rare.  Even in a small town supposedly surrounded by spacious countryside and wilderness there is very little common ground.  We are still being taxed (on meagre livelihoods and the space we take up) and still metaphorically avoiding the toll booth. 



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