Dawn, 36 - 52. An Interesting Hike.

I've really been remiss about writing recently. There have been days I vowed to stay home in the morning, write a post, continue editing my story, and simply lose myself on the keyboard, but life snuck in and upended my plans. Life continues submerged in much the same chaos, and the pandemic numbers are slowly ticking upward, and all I care about is the beauty of the days I am living.

Apart from errands that seem never-ending, I have been going for my walks in the woods. Yesterday, taking advantage of the fact that our daughter was home, I went to half of a talk about the tumuli on the other side of the highway that runs beneath the hill behind our house.

The talk began down in the parish cultural center of Leiro, but it seemed too long to walk for me yesterday, so I walked to the tumuli, and waited for the appearance of the group around twelve, which was their scheduled time of arrival. I got there early, and sat on a stone, waiting for them in the warm sun, with a cool morning breeze tempering it.

When they showed up, they were a decent group of people. The archeologist was leading it, and the mayor was also in the group, along with a woman I know by sight, and the director of the local high school. I joined them as they started at the first tumulus, the archeologist explaining that it had been mostly destroyed. We moved on down the lane that winds amidst the tumuli, which very likely is not the original lane that surely led through them in ancient times, but is probably not far off the original path. Most of what was explained, I already knew, that the builders directed the entrance to the east, southeast, that they were mostly a nomadic people, living off livestock and an occasional crop planted in better soil. 

The man explained that the hill forts that came after, in the "Celtic" period were a simple development of life, in which the people became more sedentary and wanted to sleep in places that were easily defensible. Someone mentioned that probably those people also brought their dead to be buried in the tumuli, and the archeologist shook his head. No burials of the hill fort era have yet been found, nor evidence of cremation except in one place. The consensus was that the dead were thrown into the nearest river or ocean, along with votives, such as the two swords that have been found in the Ulla River nearby, beneath the hill fort in Bexo, which I have climbed to.

That was when someone suggested walking to the hill fort in Isorna, across the hill. Part of the group agreed, and we set off. I had been feeling fine, but was a little worried about my knee, which had given me problems a couple of weeks earlier, though it was fine yesterday. I texted my daughter to tell her where I was going, and warning that I might ask her to pick me up. Aside from the long walk, it was late for me, accustomed to being home after a walk at one, at the latest. 

The archeologist and another man, local whom I knew by sight, and very knowledgable, took us down a very steep lane, that was used mostly as a divider between parcels of land. It saved us time, but the thought of climbing it back was daunting. Then, when we were at the bottom, we continued along another, not so steep lane that turned to climb around the hill where the fort was. 

We cut through areas where there didn't seem

to be much of a path, and always uphill, until we came to the first defensive wall. It seemed we were climbing the wall much like the Romans must have, invading the outer fort, but without arrows and stones raining down on us, just eucalyptus leaves. The second wall was also steep, and then we were at the top, with scattered boulders and stones. The views were spectacular, down to the river and across to the other shore, though they would have been much better without the plague of eucalyptus blocking out a lot of it. We didn't stay there long, even though many of us were huffing and puffing. We went down another side, noticing where the original entrance must have been, and tut-tutting the damage done by local trail bike enthusiasts. We passed by where some dislodged stones had let part of the midden tumble down, and we could see white shells of seafood the people had eaten. There were a few recognizable shells of cockles and oysters. The local man led us to what was called the "Cova de Xil," Xil's Cave, a collection of boulders leaning against each other that created a cave. According to local legend, it got its name in the Civil War, when a man named Xil, from Isorna down below, hid there to avoid capture, like so many in his same situation across Spain.

It had been an interesting walk, and now we were going back down, chatting about history, the war, and other things. We got to a point that was quite steep, and covered in eucalyptus leaves, which made it slippery. I slipped and landed on my backside, sliding down the hill. I tried to get up but kept slipping. I didn't mind, because I was going forward, anyway, even though I could feel the damp ground beneath me, and I was quickly on more level ground, where I could stand. 

We soon got to the bottom lane, and though some of the others offered to drive me home, I rejected their offers, and said I would call my daughter to pick me up down at the main road. They left back for Leiro and their cars, along that track, and I went the opposite way, toward the road. As I was walking, I realized I did have to call my daughter to pick me up. Not only was it late (after two in the afternoon), but my knee hurt, and I was limping. When I fell, my leg folded, and I folded it too well, and now it hurt again.

But I got to the road without any problems, and my daughter picked me up. My knee hurt a lot, but I took an anti-inflammatory medication specific for joints and muscles. It still hurt this morning, but this afternoon it's almost disappeared. It does mean, however, that I most likely can't go walking this week, to let it rest, so I might have more time to sit and write some mornings.

I have to return to the hill fort over in Isorna. It's a long walk, though, so I will have to set off early, and most likely on a weekend when our daughter is here to take care of lunch. It's a beautiful spot to sit and contemplate the present and the past. On one side, there are the present day eucalyptus trees, on the other, there are small, autoctonous oaks, and other species that have been growing here for thousands of years. The walk yesterday was great, but the place needs a quiet contemplation to make the past come alive, along with the people who created their lives there. 

Life continues.