Happy Easter to all my friends!
Many of us will not be able to spend the day in the way we might wish. For those of you who, like Gail and me, are a bit cut off from friends and family just now, we hope you will be able to join us for an Easter Sunday morning expedition.
We start, of course, from our home in Aberdeen, and through the familiar territory of Duthie Park.
Then it's on to the riverside path, where massed ranks of daffodils are still out in force.
Across the Bridge of Dee, we pause to read the board telling you all about the history of this structure, which dates back to medieval times. As Gail's eyes are drawn to the sentence 'Burgesses were posted on the bridge to prevent the spread of plague into the burgh', I observe the third police car of the morning driving past. There is little other traffic on the road.
Further along the riverside path, another sign warns us off going for a swim. Neither Gail nor I find this instruction hard to obey.
A short climb away from the river takes us up into Tolohill Wood, where the spring flowers are, finally, tentatively, beginning to appear.
In the distance, we can look across to the church spires and more recent high rise buildings of Aberdeen's city centre.
Back down the hill, a farm track leads us into a squeaky clean new housing estate,
Then this time we go under the bridge, where I enjoy a welcome sip of nice cool river water.
Continuing homewards, we note that the playing fields are all but deserted, the footballers presumably practicing keepie uppie in their back yards.
And into the home straight, where the waters of the Duthie Park pond are for once undisturbed by the usual Sunday morning flotilla of noisy model boats.
Well done to those of you who managed to make it all the way round with us. That was a whole five and a half miles! For sure, we all deserve a nice juicy chunk of roast lamb and, for the humans, an extra bite of Easter egg.
