getting out of the doldrums......

sometimes I get in the doldrums! Like everyone in our country, I work hard and try my best. I put in the extra hours but sometimes it just seems pointless and then I get in to the doldrums. I'm not doing well enough; I can't see any progress as a result of my efforts; its a pointless waste of time and energy because it wont make any difference!

My current doldrums is the relentless pressure to obtain examination results, which frankly, are impossible to achieve, and so I feel I have failed before I have started. My doldrums don't last long. I am a proactive, get on with it and stop your moaning kind of person. I relish challenges. But after my sixth 65 hr week; and sixth Sunday where I have worked 8 hrs on the trot.........I have succumbed to self pity and a bout of the doldrums. Sorry folks - it happens.

So now I need to get myself out of these doldrums.

I made sure I went for a lovely walk on Dartmoor yesterday. For those who don't know Dartmoor, it is one of our National Parks. A great batholith exposed as moorland scenery with steep V shaped valleys dissecting it with famous rivers - the Dart; the Erme; the Avon; the Tamar; the Exe and so on.
'She wot must be obeyed' and I strolled around Burrator Reservoir, a pleasant road walk with some stunning scenery.  Anyway, it helped make me appreciate a little more how lucky I am to live where I do.

My daughter made me take her rock pooling on our local beach for two hours. She's 21! Well capable of rock pooling herself given she has a degree in wildlife conservation and has worked as a beach warden on two separate occasions! But she recognised the 'doldrums' in her dad and came galloping to the rescue knowing a stroll on the beach searching for crabs, sand-eels and anything marine would lift my spirits.

I am lucky to be surrounded by people who understand me and who watch out for me.

And so I have arrived at a momentous decision. I am going sailing at least once a month during the winter irrespective of the weather!

 I know - these are brave words from a sunshine sailor but I need to do this. All work and no play makes Steve a very dull boy and a boring husband and father. My daughter will come with me ("when its not raining Dad!!") Hopefully I can persuade my friend to come occasionally as I will need his huge sailing experiences when it is a tad windy; and I will seek to sail the more sheltered waters of the Tamar.

I have one journey in mind - an overnight winter camp - up the Lynher to 'Boating World' south of Landrake (if they can put me up for a night at their mooring pontoon). The tides will need to be right but it is doable. I have a four season sleeping bag, gortex bivvy bag and in sheltered creeks such as that of 'Boating world', I can assemble the dome tent on board. So I should be OK.

Anyway, lets see if I can get out sailing next weekend for a time as a start...great journeys all begin with one small step!

I promise to be in a better mood by my next post!
Steve

I think this is a rowan tree - although it could be a yew - it is sad that I can never remember all the trees. Once, a long time ago, when I was a boy of eight, I could name every single tree in UK just from looking at its leaf....where has that knowledge gone over the years? Is it still in my brain just locked away in a folder marked....'not life critically important'?

There seem to be plenty of berries again this year - is that a sign of a bad winter ahead of us?

one of the lovely Dartmoor stone walls

views out across the reservoir

 

the mighty reservoir dam

somewhere below in the distance is the flooded village of burrator and it is said during times of drought - the old village walls can be seen

sharpitor and leather tor high on the hills

for those who are not sure - the tors are outcrops of rounded rocks on hill tops

they are a product of chemical weathering and frost shattering over thousands of years and are a distinctive feature of granite moorland scenery here in the British Isles

a 100' below at the base of the great dam

and looking down the valley from the dam foot

around the east of the reservoir, the fallen water level from the summer is more apparent

 

little rays of sunshine through the gloom of the surrounding pine forests

and our lovely Dartmoor ponies which range across the extensive moors