The big walk

An orange walk, or any other for that matter, is not something I would usually bother with or post about. This one though deserves a mention because it was huge. It took over our little town today. We'd been warned that roads would be shut and basically the town would be locked down with no way in or out for most of the day. That is why my wife was forced to take the kids out very early and come back much later. My oldest daughter was coming back from Italy with her aunt and cousin. My wife had to go to collect her so had to go out before the lockdown. That left me at home alone. With thousands of people outside on my doorstep and a lot of noise as well as good weather it seemed stupid to ignore it and stay in doors.

As it turned out I was out for a few hours and walked a few miles with my camera. Despite concerns voiced by many before hand I saw no trouble at all. There were certainly a lot of police. I caught there attention early on before the buses arrived. They were patrolling the local park and had people pointed at every entrance and exit. Or so they thought. They were dotted around the perimeter. I bypassed them and went down to the train station for a bit. On my way back I cut through the woods and came into the park to the surprise of 4 police men and women standing chatting. I got the long stare as I passed and then when I looked back two of them had went down into the woods from where I had come. If nothing else I had at least showed them something they obviously did not know was there. So many police that I would imagine most were not local.

I'm an atheist while the rest of my family are catholic so its not the sort of thing I should be seen at. That said though I am glad I did mingle. It was the chance to be around a lot of people within a safe distance to get home if it got too much. And the atmosphere was really good. Spirits were high and there was a lot of smiles and laughter. Getting out for so long though and walking so far really did help a lot today. I felt almost normal and whatever the circumstances that is never a bad thing.