The confidence to overcome obstacles

It is just breaking dawn when I wake, outside the sun is about to rise to the southeast, the sky is overcast, with cloud but at the horizon, between the cloud and the earth, is a sliver of gorgeous light, a narrow margin where the sun will rise. I open may bedroom window to let the cool fresh air into the room, gather Norman gently into my arms from his warm basket and carry him into the garden to observe the miracle of a new sunrise. He is singularly unimpressed, so what, another day, his thoughts solely on breakfast, which I duly make. Louis wants to walk the dogs with me today, so I collect him from North Bar after first picking up the terriers from Cherry Burton. We walk, Louis, the three dogs and I, from Sarah's house, down Seven Corners Lane, across York Road and onto the Westwood. I have Teddy and Norman and Louis has Dolly. I teach him to walk her to heel, he soon gets it, she has this down long ago. Once we arrive at Newbegin Pits, we let Teddy and Norman off the lead. Teddy spots a rabbit and heads off in hot pursuit, while Norman jogs contentedly behind myself and Dolly. It is a nice day, the cloud breaking up and clearing, the sun occasionally breaking through and highlighting the spectacular autumn woodland. Despite telling him that Teddy always comes back when we reach the pasture, Louis follows him, as he hunts rabbits and squirrels amongst the trees and bramble bushes. Teddy returns as predicted, soon followed by Louis, his jeans besmirched by mud and bramble leaves in his hair. "It's good exercise", he says, and who could argue with him. The common borders Newbegin Pits and the embankments between the two are almost vertical, muddy and thirty feet high. Dolly, now off the lead, pursues rabbits up and down the banking, and Louis, notwithstanding his experiences with Teddy, follows. Dolly knows to rendezvous with me at Black Mill and so I wander in that general direction, before being brought to a stop by cries of "Help, Help!" from Louis, who, i discover, is stuck half way up a particularly steep embankment, his hand on the root of a tree, his feet slipping in the mud. First, I calm him down and then talk him up the rest of the climb, using three point movement, i.e. only ever moving one hand or one foot at a time. He summits triumphal, and we continue on our way towards Black Mill, the wind once we enter the exposed ground, is strong and quite cold. Louis confesses that he is tired, we have already been out for an hour and a half, so we retrace our steps back to his house. Alice changes his muddy jeans, while I run Dolly and Teddy back to Cherry Burton, and then we drive to Morrisons to fill up the car with diesel and have a quick snack. Louis chooses ham, and I egg and cress sandwiches, before doing a little shopping, which somehow includes a "Captain America" shield, which also doubles as a frisbee. Back in Tickton, it is time for Norman's lunch, and afterwards Louis wants to go to the play park to play with his shield. There are three children in the park and two grandmothers, one of the kids, a little girl called Macy, joins in our game and so I am able to retire to the bench for a while and let them play. The main thing children need is other kids. The two of them play happily for half an hour and then Macy and her Nana leave and we drive to the leisure centre. At half term they have this big inflatable castle/ obstacle course, that they put in the pool for the kids to play on, and Louis wants some of the action. We arrive at a twenty to three and are told the next session starts on the hour, so adjourn to the cafe to wait. We meet Chris, a lady that I sometimes see in the pool looking after two Downs symptoms boys of about twenty years of age. She is also on half term, but is giving a gymnastics class, which also starts at three. Louis shows her the photographs we took on the Westwood and we chat for a while until it is time for our swim. The inflatable is about fifteen metres long and it finishes in the deep end. The kids have to swim from a slide at the end, to the poolside about seven or eight metres away, once they complete the obstacle course. Louis is the youngest kid there by a good three years, but as he is big for his age, they let him have a go. He has never been in the big pool on his own, much less the deep end, so I patrol the waters round the inflatable in case of emergencies. He flaps a bit in the deep end the first time, but remembers his swimming lessons and floats and kicks on his back to get out of trouble. After each attempt, his confidence improves and I hardly have to help him at all by the time the session finishes at four. He is, understandably, hungry again and once we are shampooed, dried and changed, we make our way to the cafe, where he has fish fingers, chips and apple juice and I, tea and scone. I drop him off at North Bar around five thirty,before driving home to feed Norman and then take him for his evening walk. Louis and I have had a magical day, albeit very tiring. Dinner for me is a crusty baguette, some Camembert, and a glass of Shiraz. As I finish eating, the phone rings and it is a friend on the line, we chat for a while and then I read until bedtime.