I clocked out at 21:25 yesterday. If you are wondering how that one take concern oversize trousers, hold on, “I can explain”.

In his second letter to Thessalonian believers, brother Paul mentioned that “he that does not work, should not eat“. It clearly states, ‘he‘, as in, the pronoun for the male gender. But wantin happened to wantin and they somehow managed to drag all of us into the mess; he, she, shim , all of us join. Now, the women God designed as a crown to beautify creation have to work for a living.🥹 As if that was not enough, I decided to be a nurse, not just a nurse giggling with babies or some other satisfying role, I decided to be a care home nurse. 🤧I know you want to console me, type it in the comments my dear.

The dichotomy of my role, is for lack of words, jarring. I nurse both the happily living and the actively dying, side by side. My workplace is a home for the elderly, full of life who need support due to age-related frailty and also, a deathplace for departing souls. “Three sugars please” and “time of death 14:52” have been heard by my ears, within a minute on a regular day at work. I have laughed at an old dad joke , and in the next room, titrated anticipatory medications for syringe driver, as in, managed symptoms of death to ease passage. Let’s sit with that for a minute.

A certain level of stoicism, oops, I meant to say, professionalism is demanded from me and I am supposed to carry on like an angel with healing wings but human ears. A lot of contrasting things were heard yesterday, I could barely process all of it. The earliest I could clock out of a shift I was scheduled to finish at 19:15 was 21:25.

I have considered donating my ears to charity but a more efficient alternative presented itself, a riverside walk. Nothing like the wavy ripples of a steady stream, the golden sunshine over glassy seas, sheep grazing in lush pastures, to smoothen over-stretched emotions and soothe cranky ears.

This morning, I decided to try on a hiking trouser from regatta purchased online weeks earlier. I had Nigerian-mothered myself into sizing up, not particularly in hopes that I would “grow into it” but more of desiring a loose fit. And like the title suggests, it was oversize. The reasonable thing would have been to loop a belt or amend it, but I decided against reason. Filmed an OOTD spontaneously and shared without a second thought, grabbed my keys and stepped out.

Walk with me, I hope you have the right size of trousers,lol. I add spice to adventure by choosing a theme: it varies widely from how many times Tim Keller would say, “invariably” in 2 hours, to counting waddling mallards.

Today’s theme was , beauty. I took photos of elements that captured my attention. The first were these flowers that look purple to me but are called bluebells.

Finding feminine pink in nature is rare year round but it’s a given in spring because of Japan blossoms.

I stared and stared and if the flowers could speak, she would have asked, have you not seen beauty like this before and I would respond, I have but it pleases my eyes each time so I can’t help it.

I love that English people mind their business and do not go out of their way to start conversations. I really needed the stillness to detox and align. There was actually no one within a mile of me at this particular lake (It’s 1 of 4 ).

I feel like God was saying, watch them graze and learn to feast at my table too!

4 miles on the route, I was able to spot a fishing boat and the lovely couple smiled and waved, I returned the courtesy.

Mallards fled from the boats and I was able to capture it!

Pondered on what the story could possibly be? A wild squall? A sick boatman? An unskilled fisher? Engine failure? Or just humans dumping scraps to pollute a conserved space. I will never get to know the story and I have made peace with having unanswered questions especially when the answers won’t make any difference to my untamed curiosity.

Its a lot more beautiful to the eyes than my camera can tell and it had a bird perching on it. My footsteps startled it and I did not get to see the specie.

At the 6th mile was a wild stretch of meadow as far as the eyes could see! It feels like dreamland and I let my mind wander and ponder at the beauty that is God’s artistry.

The total distance was 8 miles, by feet, unsure of how far my mind travelled but it was thankful for the walk and the calm.

Don’t be deceived by the portion size, when I finished, I went for a second round and ate like a medieval peasant preparing for planting season😂.

See! you came along with me on a photo story. Thank you for your company. Sesongo. Tutu mkpong.

With Love

Edima