After Church, my cousin Heather and I went for a walk on the Cobequit Trail. We were on the Old Barns Section and walked almost as far as the Round Barn Lane. That’s about 5.5 km, my furthest consistent walk since my head injury. My last good trail walk was a year ago with another Heather, who is not my cousin.

Perhaps it was the beauty of the area that made me not realize how far I was walking or all the unique features I was seeing because areas with tides are so much different than those places I go on the Great Lakes of Ontario. Whatever it was, we were almost at the end of our walk before I had even the slightest of balance issues.

We walked and saw other walkers, cyclists, dogs, cows and the wonder of the tidal lands that are marshlands of the mud flats. There are grasses that can survive, if not thrive, on salt water, and they are encroaching on the mudflat areas

There were many plants that are quite different than those to which I am accustomed, including one that looked like an innocent Queen Anne’s Lace but was as toxic as Poison Ivy. It is given the romantic name of Cow Parsnip. There were interesting cuts in the mud that disappear during high tide and, swaths of green trees with sudden bursts of colour in them. And of course, there were also the persistent seagulls.

While walking along I thought of my friends Matthew and Sarah and was telling Heather about Matthew’s recent St. Ninian Walk. I told Heather that when I saw Matthew in the hospital, he and I had talked about Little Doc, Hugh MacPherson. We had each done research on Little Doc, he for his pilgrimage, and I for completely different reasons and we had learned different things about him. I told her how there is so much he is able to see when he is making his pilgrimages, because, for him, walks are pilgrimages. I told her that I try to think of walks in a similar way. For me, today’s walk did seem like a pilgrimage of recovery, and I rejoice.

As Heather and I walked there were quiet places, and there were thin places, and there was wonder. We were only out by the mudflats for only about ninety minutes–but it was enough for nature to have changed her appearance between our walk out and our walk back. It was a good day–and I am very grateful to my cousin.