Yesterday evening I set off for my seven mile training yomp, going round the loop clockwise for a change.  I opted for a fleece rather than a waterproof as the cloud was light and the outlook not too bad. 

By a mile in it was drizzly and mizzly but hey ho, there were lots of runners, dog-walkers, a few other yompers in hiking boots, and plenty of evening strollers. 

Reaching the Botanic Gardens it was steady drizzle, never enough to permeate my fleece, but enough that umbrellas were up, wipers on, and most people head down.  I could, I thought curtail my walk, take the two mile route back home and still have four miles or so under my belt.  But I pressed on, turning left along great Western Road.

Tourists and students scuttled along to reach their destinations and then the sight that made me smile - a family group, anoraks zipped up to the chin, stocially sat at a table outside a pub sipping their drinks with that indomitable spirit that says "we are Brits, we are at leisure, we are having fun!"  Well, Glaswegians asserting that it is meant to be almost summer, anyway.

Up to the motorway, round the corner, down Woodlands Road and into Kelvingrove Park.  Some lads playing five-a-side football in the rain, a group of "britmilfit.com" people running up and down the paths and round and round the fountain, a smiling dog-walker, a courting couple.  The play areas deserted (probably by now past bedtime for the children) but cyclists zooming along.

Over the road, past the former transport museum, along the side of the expressway and back up into Dumbarton Rd - still warm and dry inside my fleece, even if soggy of hair, as the drizzle drizzled on.

Home again, with a sense of satisfaction, and the pleasure of having seen so many other people out in the dull, wet evening, living life, having fun... as the old saying goes 'that's the spirit!'

Not a spiritual post, but one emerging from a wet walk that reminded me of what it means to be fully alive.