May Day

5th May 2014

    The day began chilly, with a slight frost. I waited for Dee as the Sun rose and warmed me, then we drove to Ightham Mote for a May Day walk while the spring flowers still illuminate the way. The car park was quiet and we were the first there; crowds were expected today, at this popular place. The Greensand Ridge beckoned and there was just a gentle mist over the southern hills and the air was clean. Puffing and panting on the uphill climb, Dee asked if I had eaten a pie for breakfast. I explained: old age comes to everyone who is lucky.
    The white flowering heads of Ransomes were spread gloriously over the wood on Willmot Hill, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of garlic. Over toward Rooks Hill, the early Bluebells were now going to seed, making the ground appear drab after the brilliant display. But One Tree Hill was still vibrant and blue.
    We sat on an old fallen tree in Knole Park in sunshine for tea, watched over by an inquisitive Roe deer, stamping his feet and smelling the air. He stayed with us all this time and made us slightly nervous and Maisie sat on the trunk watching back, never stirring. When we left, he bounced (stotted) away, boing-boing. What did he mean; you can't catch me?
    The noisy Parakeets were especially active above in the Chestnuts and their green backs were almost luminous in the sunlight; the Rooks' and Jackdaws' behaviour was almost genteel by comparison as they strutted about the park probing the ground. We came out of the park into the wood at Godden Green where large swathes of Rhododendron had been cleared to allow the growth of native trees. Of course, they provided cover if one was desperate for a pee, so we had to hold on for a while longer and look for a more suitable place!
    As we went on through Bitchet Common, we sampled the leaves of Jack-by-the-hedge, and decided that the smaller leaves at the top were very tasty and could be used in a salad very well. But the lower leaves made one look as if a lemon had been sucked.
    We stopped for tea on the Ridge overlooking the valley and watched two Buzzards wheeling and a Kestrel hovering below us, with the Sun on their backs. The day by now was warming and on the last leg to Shipbourne Church, I removed a layer. There were many walkers about close to the village; it had become a busy thoroughfare. And back at Ightham Mote, the queue at the restaurant was too long to contemplate buying cake and coffee there, so off we went home.   
    Tonight, as I put the cat out, and looked up, Venus and Mars and Mani were clear in the evening sky and I pondered on them.