14th September 2008 Angle Tarn, near Patterdale
“Transports of Delight”
Paul writes:
Woke up to Andrew Motion on Radio 4 asking, “Where is home?” Is it a place or a psychological space we sometimes reach?
A shorter drive (we’re nearing the end of the journey) to Hartsop. Legs then transport us up the steep Angle Tarn Beck against the flow of the crashing waterfalls, testing my endurance on land. Goats on the crags above, show us how agility really works.
During the ascent, an alternative hexagram is built from larger slabs of rock – Heaven over Lake – a stable structure.
Angle Tarn welcomes us and allows a relaxing swim.
Later, below, over a pint , we watch a horde of bikers preparing to leave. Gear on. Last cigarettes. Pulling their rocket machines into action off their stands. “To Harrogate!” they say, and they’re gone.
We ponder the meaning of ‘transport’ to John Coltrane in the car home. To carry across. To become changed. To develop new awareness through new experiences. To keep moving.
Can all days be as good as this?
