Blob Thing was enjoying himself by the River Wear.
He felt a little bit crazy because he was going round the bend.
At least around the bend in the river.
Blob knows that to be by far the most appalling joke he's made in his short life. Blob's person doesn't think it even deserves to be called a joke. Blob Thing thinks though that it's traditional to make bad jokes when walking by this part of the river. He spent time after his day out looking at what Blob's person's mother had to say about Durham after the day Blob's person spent there with her parents. Her mother hadn't enjoyed the Cathedral either. She didn't have very much positive to say about Durham at all. Blob's person is more positive about the place and is looking forward to taking Blob there again soon.
What her mother's blog did contain was a terrible joke. As you walk along the river and pass many people from the university rowing up and down you come to a weir, at which point the rowers have to carefully turn around and row back down the river. The blog contained the following joke:
We're by a weir on the Wear.
Terrible. But now Blob is under the mistaken impression that when writing about walking by the river in Durham it is an ancient tradition to make a terrible joke. He thinks it's obligatory and Blob's person hasn't been able to convince him otherwise. Fortunately, his attempt at humour appeared right at the beginning of this post. It's over. From here on in you're safe.
Blob thought it was really very pleasant to be walking by the river. The streets had been noisy and while they had contained things he liked - such as charity shops and the cafe at Alington House - he was relieved to be somewhere quieter. He felt a lot more relaxed and smiled about the way the day just kept improving. Blob's person was enjoying herself too.
Blob's person likes bridges. Her enthusiasm for them has infected Blob Thing too. A few days ago he was out adventuring again along the River Wear. He has now followed it in stages all the way from Durham to the sea. He's already told you about how he walked Cuddy's Corse between Chester-le-Street and Durham. In the last week walked the rest of the way, first from Chester-le-Street to Fatfield, and then from Sunderland back up the River to Fatfield.
He's got a lot to tell you about from that last day. It was very exciting and his inherited bridge enthusiasm was evident. On that walk he passed quite a lot of bridges and asked to be photographed in front of every single one of them. Between the sea and the bus stop at Fatfield there are seven bridges and they are all quite different. Blob has pictures of himself in front of all of them and he finds that a very exciting thing. He can't wait to show you one day. He can't wait, but he has to anyway and somehow he will just have to deal with that paradox.
When visiting Durham he hadn't developed his enthusiasm so didn't get such fine photos. Blob's person took some pictures though - which she will share on her own blog soon - and Blob wants to share them here. Because he likes them. He's spent the last few days pestering his person. He says they have to go back and visit Durham - and walk all the way there from Fatfield too - just so he can be photographed in front of all the bridges. He asks you to imagine how much better these pictures would be if they contained the glowing, joyful smile of Blob.
Blob climbed the steps from the river. He'd climbed down at one bridge. He climbed up at another. So many bridges to go back and visit. He's pleased. His person has just promised him that she'll take him there and she will take all the pictures he's asking for. She's even agreed that they can walk from Fatfield to Durham and she can take pictures of him with those bridges too. It doesn't matter whether the bridge is a concrete monster carrying a busy road or whether it's a pretty footbridge. He can have all the photos he wants. That means too that Blob can go back and visit Finchale Priory, somewhere he loved.
He was tired and was ready to go home. That was enough Durham for one day. His person felt tired too. Together they headed through the city streets towards the bus station. Then his person had an idea. "Let's have a drink before going home." Blob agreed it might be nice. They had already recrossed the river and the bus station was fast approaching. Then Blob noticed a sign pointing up a steep side street. There was a cafe up there. Blob's person didn't really want to climb the side street because she was tired and because she knew she was going to have to carry Blob. But she agreed anyway because she was thirsty.
At that point the day improved more than they would have believed. First they visited the Crushed Chilli art gallery and chatted with a glass maker. Blob told you about that many weeks ago. Then they walked up the hill. It was a long way to the cafe and when they got there they decided not to go in after all. Maybe they could find a different cafe later. Blob is going to tell you about that amazing cafe tomorrow.
Opposite the cafe they chose not to visit was a church. It was very pretty and seemed a lot more relaxing than the cathedral. The door was open and inside a choir were rehearsing some gorgeous polyphonic sacred music. It was lovely. Outside the church Blob's person took a picture of Blob. Durham Castle is in the background. And Blob took a picture of Blob's person with the cathedral in the background.
They walked together through the churchyard and on the other side was a path leading further away from the road. Blob said, "I wonder where that goes," and said that they should explore and seek out a big adventure. It was an amazing adventure. Blob's person especially was filled with happiness about it all. She took lots and lots and lots of photos on the adventure and spent a lot of time happy flapping about everything. Blob felt really happy because he had found something for his person that made her very excited and made her smile almost as much as he was smiling. But there are no pictures of Blob there. None at all. So he's not going to tell you about what they found along the path. Blob's person promises to blog about the day very soon and reveal the truth.
Fatigue is an amazing thing. Both Blob Thing and his person had been feeling very tired indeed. But here they were, having visited an art gallery, climbed a steep hill, listened to a choir and then gone on a thrilling adventure. And now neither of them were tired in the slightest. It showed them that while tiredness can be due to actually being physically exhausted very often it's due to our state of mind. They had been so tired. But it had nothing at all to do with their bodies, except to the extent that their thoughts and feelings had affected the chemical reactions in their bodies.
Blob and his person were filled with life and with great energy after the adventure and they walked back down the hill into the noise and haste of the shopping street with a bounce in their steps that was absent before they walked up the hill. The day had been marvelous. They decided that Durham was worth returning to and might be worth returning to lots of times for lots more surprise adventures.
[1335 words]
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