The Pleasure of Walking

So as you know, I've recently begun a new Larnook ritual, which is to go for an early morning walk on Sundays from Maryville to the entry to Billen Cliffs Community. It's a very easy stroll and it takes me just on an hour, depending on how may stops I make to investigate some aspect of the landscape, or whether I have a camera with me.
I eased myself out of bed at ten to seven this morning (OK so it's not a terribly early morning walk) and left the house and walked off into the still, misty morning. It wasn't so cold that there had been a frost, but it was still crisp.
As I wandered along Martin's Road I said my early morning "hellos" to a pair of brush turkeys that appear to have taken up residence perilously close to our place; assorted red necked wallabies; and smaller birds like grey fantails and white-eyes (they were called silver-eyes in my earlier years).
It seems that I am now having my most creative ideas on this walk. A few weeks ago I decided that I would edit a book on animal-human interactions in tourism, and so I quickly shot off an email to the publisher that published the book on Slow Tourism that I edited along with my colleagues, Erica Wilson and Simone Fullagar last year, well the year before actually, but it was published last year. My contact at the publisher was enthusiastic and through my efforts it looks like I will have about 15 scholars contributing chapters to this book.  Thanks early morning walk to Billen Cliffs!
And then this morning I spent much of the return walk home piecing together an idea for a grant application which would investigate Australians' attitudes, or more specifically, the historical development of such attitudes and beliefs to eating animals since European colonisation. So how have we ended up as a nation that eats mostly beef, lamb, pig, chicken and fish? Why is goat and horse meat so negatively viewed? And what about the 'bush foods'? What is the basis of the community polarisation around eating kangaroos? Why don't we eat possums? etc.  I think you get the picture.
So as soon as I got back to Maryville I emailed off my colleague, Nancy Cushing, with whom I have written a number of pieces on aspects of human-animal studies, and she emailed me earlier this afternoon, equally as enthused.  Thanks again early morning walk to Billen Cliffs!