New Year with Family

We went for what was meant to be a simple walk in the Lake District with my Irish family. Simple was very optimistic.

From the first step, there was noise. Everyone was talking at once. Everyone was convinced they knew the way. Directions were debated with confidence, not accuracy.

Somehow, we ended up at the Kadampa Temple for World Peace, which everyone immediately called the Golden Temple. Things went quiet for about thirty seconds. Then the photos started. Then the jokes. Then someone asked how far we still had to walk.

Not long after that, my granny stopped because she was distracted by sheep. She’d come over from Northern Ireland, and clearly felt right at home chatting to them like old friends. My uncle David stood patiently behind her, waiting, as if this sort of thing happened every day.

We were having a fun day. Lots of laughing, stopping for no reason, and enjoying every minute of it.

By the end, we were tired, a bit muddy, and still laughing about the same things. It wasn’t the peaceful Lake District walk you see in postcards, but it was much better than that.