The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

I have just finished reading this book and it is one of those books that once you start reading you've entered a parallel universe, you're in your own world and at the same time you're in the book and the characters are part of your own life and you find yourself having conversations with them, especially when you're on your own walking in the woods with the dog. If by now you think I'm daft and haven't a clue what I'm on about, all I can say is, you have never enjoyed a good read. My advice would be: read this book!

I noticed Julie recommended it a while back in her post making tracks and as I trust her judgment completely I ordered the book at my local book shop as well the sequel 'The love song of Miss Queenie Hennessy'. Now that I have finished Harold's pilgrimage I have Miss Queenie's reply to look forward to!

 This book touched a nerve, many nerves in fact. I realise I'm not as old as the main characters Harold and Maureen (pensioners) but there are many threads we seem to have in common; for instance not always saying what you want to, but instead saying awful, hurtful things to spite your loved ones. How sometimes what you want to say is too big for words, so you stay silent and the other person has no idea how much you want to share, but just cannot manage. Being able to listen to other people without judging, which is a quality you're either born with (in my case, nope) or you have to acquire over the years (I should hope so!); hearing without second-guessing, just being open to the other person's story and not wanting to interject with your own worrisome tales.....seeing the other person at a certain moment in time and not projecting your own hang-ups, really looking. Loving the person you are married to, wanting to grow old together, despite everything that didn't go according to plan, whatever that was. Learn to forgive yourself, forgiving others will then be a piece of cake. Accepting who and what you are and life is a gift for you to unwrap each and every day, and some days are just so much more boring than others and that family holidays are a compromise, as is spending time all by yourself..... that unexpected gatherings can turn out to be just what you needed and curling up on the sofa with a cup of earl grey and a good book with the dog at your feet turns out to be the best afternoon in ages. In short, living usually isn't about the ideas we might have, it's about the connections we make, with others and with ourselves and of the many ways there are of making such a connection.....

Of course I also loved the fact that there was a dog somewhere along the trail.....

I haven't managed to get quite as much stitching done as I would have liked having been otherwise occupied, however I do have something to show: these two pieces I've been basting with endless rows of running stitch; I like to makes squares with the stitches running horizontally and vertically, which is particularly visible on the back and to me very much echoes the landscape we happen to live in.  

p.s. next time I phone my parents, I hope I remember to mention how good it is to hear their voice