Today was set aside for a road trip, taking Jinny and her dog Millie on the first leg of her journey to New Quay in Wales, where she's very sensibly decided to spend the worst of winter.
The first leg of my journey was to Avoncliff Station car park, the nearest parking place to where Jinny was moored on the Kennet and Avon canal. Except there weren't any empty spaces there, at least not at first; eventually a couple of boaters appeared and drove off into the just about daylight, and I managed to manoeuvre my car into the gap they left, which was good, as it meant I could wander across the aqueduct and help Jinny carry the things she needed during her stay - clothes and lots of work materials - from her boat to my boot. I could also enjoy the stillness of the canal, the quirky birch next to the cottages, and the trickling song of the wrens in the trees on the towpath, clearly audible above a full and very roary River Avon.
Of course, the trouble with road trips is that what you mostly see - especially if you're the driver - is the road. There was a moment of real beauty, deep into Wales, as the weather cleared and sun lit the rusty, bracken-covered hills up ahead at the Taibach end of Port Talbot, plus the sighting of a red kite at the very moment Jinny and I were talking about how much Jinny's late wife, Chris, loved Bwlch Yr Nant Arian and the unforgettable spectacle of hundreds of kites being fed. And the joy of a calm and happy dog on the back seat who wasn't my Cwtch, but Jinny's Millie enjoying her first long journey since she arrived in Britain from Macedonia last spring.
I parted ways with my travelling companions at Pont Abraham, returning with a bag of goodies very kindly given me by Jinny's parents, who were driving her and Millie the rest of the way to New Quay. I'd had the notion that if there was time and enough light, I might stop off at Neath Abbey on the return leg, but the traffic was already getting quite heavy, and then Son the Younger rang to say he was really quite poorly and needed some provisions, so in the end I drove straight home. No matter: just before Bridgend two more kites flew over the car and they, along with spending time with Jinny, were enough to make the day really special.
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