Interesting weekly writing challenge this week: Blog your block. My block is actually a good couple of miles big, due to the fact that I am rural. Our house is just after the last street light, we are flanked and shielded by trees so that last street lamp back down the road doesn’t shine on us at all. When the sun goes down its complete blackness, meaning you need a torch to find the key hole or to negotiate your way to the garage / workout shed.

daylight view from the workout ‘house of pain’ room

Hence, how I broke my toe on a brick that was in the path, as I walked to the house of pain for an early morning turbo in the early morning blackness! The benefit? the sky is a wide open amazing light show of stars, so so clear here. You can even see satellites with the naked eye, absolutely no light pollution. In the summer I love to just sit in the garden in the darkness and look up at the world in the sky.

If I was to walk around the block, it would take me some considerable time. We have no direct neighbours as such, as all of them are at the other side of paddocks, or so on. Its a beautifully peaceful spot, yet, a short stroll the other way, and we are over a rail bridge (goods trains, only one a day I think) past a cattle yard and arrive at a pub. Rural, yet not. Isolated, yet not. Peaceful yet still only a few miles from town, and a short stroll to the local.

6am view of the house in winter. Torch needed

In the winter, its an extra challenge to motivate yourself to early morning training sessions because it is so so dark. Sunrise in winter doesn’t happen till 8am. I am usually at work by then! You don’t have street lights to go running with, there are only a few and they only light up the junction and the bridge just down the road. Its just you and nature out here.

Blissful.

I think I need to develop me a gym too, no neighbours to worry about waking! It never ceases to amaze me how much of a contrast my ‘block’ is now, to how it used to look in suburban England: a new build housing estate with houses crammed in here and there, two main dual carriageways, a supermarket, pub, and petrol station. oh, and many many street lights, no darkness, even at night time!

we are after the last street light before open country…