walkwithdinosaurs

Monday, July 31, 2023

PARK RUN - AYE THAT'LL BE RIGHT!

A small, and, allegedly, select band gathered together for the July outing. I was unable to attend, but had they been there on Saturday, I would have made every effort to turn up, because, as I'm sure everyone knows, the Torvean Parkrun takes place here every Saturday morning. On average, it takes participants just over half an hour to go round the 5 kilometre course. The fastest male time is just over 15 minutes and the fastest female is between 18 and 19 minutes. So, this lot have a lot to live up to and, to be honest, A hae ma doots!
I'm sure Hugh was taking the photo before slipping off his trackie bottoms, ready for the off.

Rule number one - consult a map before you start - preferably one you have in your pocket that you can take with you and consult in moments of self-doubt. Not one on a big wooden board.


After you've checked the map, check the weather! Looks a little foreboding!


Keep to the path at all times.


If in doubt about anything, consult a young person, who will be able to Google it for you. I have no idea who this is, but my guess is that Dave taught her parents or grandparents! She looks like she likes trees, though and that's a good thing in my book. Although, books are made out of dead trees, which does give rise to a bit of a moral dilemma. Or, is it an ethical dilemma? Basically, I have no choice or influence in the way books are made and my decision to buy a book will not exactly save any trees. So, my dilemma is not moral, as I don't really have two equal choices, both of which I can exercise. It would seem to be more of an ethical dilemma, in that I have to decide to buy a book based on the ethics I have accumulated over many years of being alive. So, I tend to borrow more books than I buy. Or I read them electronically. Or, I could go to the library. all of which suggests that I had more than two choices, so maybe this was a matter of morals rather than ethics. This also suggests that trying to base a philosophical discussion on someone else's photo is a complete waste of time.
Forgetting, of course, the morals or ethics of taking secret photos of young ladies in parks.


Hugh and Dave seem untroubled by ethical questions of morality.


Indeed, I detect a certain moral non-conformity and loucheness in Dave - ignoring the arm swinging man and slouching about with his hands in his pockets.


Much of the walk involves part of the old Torvean Golf Course. Torr Bheathain is the Gaelic name and it means the hill of (Saint) Bean. He was the cousin of Saint Columba and he had a Monastic cell nearby at Kilvean - the bh at the start is pronounced v, making the meaning a little clearer.
It is unlikely that the Saints played any golf and I bet they didn't shove as many balls into the pond as I have done.


It would need more than a lifebuoy to save my balls, I'm afraid.
As an aside, Lifebuoy, the soap, is the number one, best selling germ protection soap. Be sure to buy some for the walk we are organising in October as the 15th of that month is actually Global Handwashing Day!


I remember this tree trunk. I don't think I ever hit it though.


It was nice to see that golf hasn't completely disappeared from this side of Torvean. I have seen disc golf played before, but I haven't done it. Having read the Disc Golfer's Code, I begin to wonder why. Don't throw into blind areas. Don't abuse the flora - no mention of fauna. Be positive. I'm sure we could all live better lives if we did these things. I really wanted the last bit of the sign to read - Caution - Flying Saucers. Perhaps the alien involvement was in handing down the code for us all to live by.


A golf disc hole. These are commonly known as pole holes and you just need to get your flying disc into the basket. Astonishingly, there is a huge range of disc makes and accessories you can buy to play the game. The discs themselves come in different speeds and starter sets generally have 3 or 5 discs. Putting discs are the slowest and they allow you to float the disc into the pole hole. I thought it was just a bit of frisbee fun!


Here's a disc golf buggy for younger players.


This is the tee for the fun guys.


A bridge photo - well, a sort of bridge photo.


Upmarket sweeties today - salted caramel fudge! We never get that when I'm there.


Even Dave partook.


You won't see photos like this when I'm doing the recording - I couldn't get back to standing up straight. Well done, Pam and I'm sure she found the 20p she was looking for.


Or, maybe Pam was taking a photo of this little froglet. Or is it a toadlet? Yes baby toads are called toadlets and this photo is of a toadlet. 



Still on the nature theme, some Common Ragwort. This is very important for insects, but it is often pulled up and killed as it is very poisonous to horses.


Thistles are another serious agricultural pest. This is Spear Thistle which may or may not be the Thistle of Scotland. Some say that honour belongs to Creeping Thistle, or Welted Thistle. They are all very alike, so they probably are interchangeable.


This, on the other hand, is a bit trickier. You would expect to see Ox-Eye daisies in this location, but these seem a bit low to the ground in the photo. Ox-Eye daisies also have rather more slender leaves. The other likely candidate might be Scentless Mayweed, but they have much finer leaves. This narrows it down to Feverfew and the wider leaves in the picture would confirm that. It was thought to cure fevers and headaches, but there is little or no evidence to suggest that these curative effects are real.


This rather moody picture, is, I think, taken from one of the disc golf tees, although maybe they were sheltering from rain, or just skulking about.


Where's Liz?


There she is - almost blending into the forest.


As the lawyer said to the judge - You're right mallard.


After all their exertion - park running, disc golf, nature rambling, bending down - it was time for some luncheon. No sitting on a log al fresco for this lot. Off they went instead to An Talla - Gaelic for the hall or gathering space, so, quite appropriate that they should gather there. I wonder if they were clients of Hugh's as we seldom have such blatant product placement in the blog.


Prickly customers.


They look very pleased with themselves and, so they might.
Well done to them all, especially Hugh and Pam for the organisation and for sending me the  photos, that I have probably mixed up in terms of chronology and interpretation of the images.