Stepping out of my routine so easily displaces me. Though it was nice to implode, as we did yesterday sitting on the sofa in that dark little cottage in the Brecon Beacons. I loved watching and drawing the children. What beautiful beings they are, so vital, so robustly full of life and energy. By the afternoon I needed air and walked out into the intermitten sunshine and down the hill towards the Cathedral. I had no plan but just wandered in. A few people were milling about and the cafe and shop were still open. A series of iron tables and chairs had been placed outside but the chairs had been tipped up and leant into the tables against the rain. I walked along the tarmaced path and beyond a small car park. A few PRIVATE signs had been placed on the grass but everywhere else in the courtyard garden appeared to be open to the public. I took the steps down into a small, strata-ed series of beds profuse with herbs and plants made straggly with rain and the onset of their autumnal demise. It smelt glorious, a mix of mint, thyme and sweet pea. Walking back up the stairs I saw a little creature in the grass. Getting up close I could see that it was a small hedgehog. It wasn’t dead but seemed to be nuzzling its nose into the greenery as if wanting to sleep. Its eyes watched me but they struggled to stay open. Then, for no reason whatever it raised itself up and wandered off into the thicker grass by the wall. I love watching hedgehogs walk – though I must confess I haven’t seen that many. Its a rolling, low-in-the-bum sort of walk, careful and deliberate, its utterly unhurried. I felt touched by the wild. And early that day we’d see a stoat crossing the road before we got to Capel Bangor and I also spied a heron along the river in the Usk Valley. Wonderful.
