{"id":75,"date":"2021-04-02T10:06:25","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T09:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/?p=75"},"modified":"2024-05-31T11:54:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T10:54:20","slug":"walking-my-way-through-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/2021\/04\/02\/walking-my-way-through-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking my way\u00a0through \u2018Lockdown\u2019\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walking my way\u00a0through \u2018Lockdown\u2019<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

By Daniel\u00a0<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

During\u00a0this last year of\u00a0\u2018lockdown’\u00a0life has changed for everyone, with people working or studying from home,\u00a0many\u00a0activities\u00a0being reduced,\u00a0key workers being pushed to their limits,\u00a0and the worry\u00a0of what\u00a0could happen.\u00a0We\u2019ve all had to find our own ways to relax, and cope with the stresses\u00a0of life in \u2018lockdown\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

‘Lockdown\u2019\u00a0has\u00a0also\u00a0opened our eyes to the\u00a0mental health\u00a0struggles\u00a0that\u00a0many\u00a0people suffer from every day,\u00a0such as depression and anxiety, and we can all relate to feelings of\u00a0boredom,\u00a0lack of focus, and loneliness. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During lockdown I\u00a0have\u00a0managed\u00a0to\u00a0find some\u00a0useful\u00a0ways to help \u2018control\u2019\u00a0my\u00a0negative feelings\u00a0and\u00a0try to make the most of \u2018lockdown\u2019,\u00a0including reading all sorts of books, cooking and baking, and gaming (online and traditional). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My favourite way to feel happier and more relaxed though, was\/is\u00a0to go long walks.\u00a0I normally go my walks with my mum, or sometimes my dad at the weekend, and we chat about all sorts of things along the way.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We have been going for walks all\u00a0through \u2018lockdown\u2019,\u00a0and in all weathers.\u00a0 In Springtime we often walk in the countryside, and it is always good to see the\u00a0Spring lambs in the fields.\u00a0Summer walks are great, though\u00a0it can get tiring if it is too warm,\u00a0so I prefer when there is a slight breeze to keep us cool.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of my countryside walks are around Stromness, often up behind my house\u00a0or\u00a0\u2018round the Loons\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of the downsides of walking in the countryside is when farmers are spreading slurry on the fields, and we have gone home a few times smelling a bit! The good thing about Autumn walks is walking<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0through the fallen leaves \u2013 although we don\u2019t have a lot of trees in Orkney there are some places with a few, like Hillside Rd in Stromness. In Autumn and Winter, the nights get dark sooner, so most of our walks are in the dark, and I have always loved looking up at the stars. Winter walks can be cold and windy, so I don\u2019t always enjoy them so much, though it is still good to get some fresh air.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes the weather in Orkney can suddenly change \u2013 one Spring day we set off on a walk, and it was quite mild and sunny, but halfway round, near the\u00a0Waterworks, suddenly\u00a0we got snowed on!\u00a0It was a shock but also quite cool! Snowy winter walks can be fun – there is something satisfying about walking on\u00a0snow, fresh snow,\u00a0crunchy snow,\u00a0slushy\u00a0snow, all snow!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although we often\u00a0walk in the countryside, we also go walks by the shore,\u00a0along beaches, or\u00a0to places like Happy Valley – I love going to the beach to walk on the sand and paddle in the water, especially in summer, and in Happy Valley it is fun to walk along the river or through the trees.\u00a0Sometimes we just go a walk down the street and back, which I enjoy, but it can get a bit repetitive if you do it too often. At Christmas it was nice to walk along the street at night and see the houses all lit up.<\/span><\/p>\n

The walks are even more fun\u00a0when I discover a new route or go somewhere that I have not been for a while. During \u2018lockdown\u2019\u00a0we found a few new routes, including one from \u2018the Loons\u2019 down past the Waterworks and to\u00a0Outertown\u00a0– we\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0know exactly where\u00a0we\u00a0would\u00a0come out, so that made it more exciting. More recently, in the snow, we went this walk again but in the opposite direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

As well as getting fresh air, brisk walking is also good exercise, and although we walked more on some days than others, I got out most days, and covered at least a few miles on each walk. A brisk walk can wake you up, or a slower walk can also help to relax you, and walking in the fresh air often gives a better night\u2019s sleep too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I often see others out enjoying the fresh air too, walking,\u00a0running,\u00a0or cycling\u00a0– I did go cycling at the start of lockdown, and really enjoy that too, but I need a bigger bike as\u00a0I have\u00a0outgrown mine.\u00a0When we are out, we often bump into folk and have a catch-up chat about what we have been doing – we can still feel connected\u00a0even though\u00a0we\u00a0cannot\u00a0be together.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After \u2018lockdown\u2019 is over, I\u2019m looking forward to visiting my family on the Scottish mainland, and going some walks with them, through the urban areas and different countryside.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walking my way\u00a0through \u2018Lockdown\u2019\u00a0 By Daniel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During\u00a0this last year of\u00a0\u2018lockdown’\u00a0life has changed for everyone, with people working or studying from home,\u00a0many\u00a0activities\u00a0being reduced,\u00a0key workers being pushed to their limits,\u00a0and the worry\u00a0of what\u00a0could happen.\u00a0We\u2019ve all had to find our own ways to relax, and cope with the stresses\u00a0of life in \u2018lockdown\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 ‘Lockdown\u2019\u00a0has\u00a0also\u00a0opened our eyes to the\u00a0mental health\u00a0struggles\u00a0that\u00a0many\u00a0people … Continue reading Walking my way\u00a0through \u2018Lockdown\u2019\u00a0<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":400,"featured_media":77,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,5,11,4,10],"class_list":["post-75","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-26","tag-covid","tag-mental-health","tag-news","tag-walking"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/public\/sayoungreporter\/uploads\/sites\/839\/2021\/04\/02100535\/DR-2T-Stromness-for-assignment.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/400"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions\/90"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/or\/sayoungreporter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}