Thursday 27 December 2012

The Joys and Sadnesses of Walking in the Country

I am currently staying with my parents, who live in a small country town, for the Christmas period. One of the added advantages to this, aside from family etc., is that the surrounding countryside offers great opportunities to get out and be active in nature.

Therefore, in an attempt to continue knocking off items from my 2012 Bucket List, I had planned to jog/walk a half marathon through the tracks and trails in the local state forest.

It was a brilliant plan. Was being the operative word.

I was walking out to the car on Christmas day and felt my back go 'spragggg&%*$'. Basically, something crushed a nerve, which then threw all the muscles in my lower back into defense mode, and left me crippled and only able to hobble.

Two days and varying amounts of heat and drugs later, I am just able to walk upright again. Sort of.
But you shouldn't take back pain lying down, so this morning I decided I would try a short walk to see if I could loosen it all up.

Even just walking down the road offers some refreshing scenery. How often do you see this on your treadmill at home?


So, I was walking along thinking about life, the universe, this blog, and my back, when I noticed a kangaroo lounging on the grass just off to my left. Kangaroos are a total rarity for city folk, but reasonably common in the country.

So I pulled out my camera and took a photo, think I would write to you about how wonderful it is walking in the country. Just have a look at him (or her, didn't get that close):


I thought he would get up and hop away but he seemed to be ignoring me, so I crept in a little closer.
I then worked out that he wasn't ignoring me, he was trying to crawl away with his arms as his legs were paralyzed. In case you are wondering, that's not a good sign in a kangaroo.

So I pulled out my phone to call Mum and Dad and find the number of Wildlife Victoria. My sister was a volunteer for a while, but quit as the majority of her job turned out to be shooting injured wildlife, which wasn't really what she had in mind when she joined up. (having said that, we did get to save a baby wombat one day, just look how cute he is!)





Anyway...

As I was dialing, someone else pulled up and said it was better to call the police so they could come straight out and shoot it. Hard life for a kangaroo. They kindly took over for me and I hobbled on my way, trying not to think about the harsh realities of life.

So walking in the country can be a mixed blessing.
And not so good when you overexert yourself and your back stiffens up again.
But otherwise walking is great. So get out there. 

This post is dedicated to Skippy, birth... unknown, death: 27th Dec, 2012.

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