‘A place where you can have a little conversation’. I wonder if when saying that Alcott was actually talking about conversing with another person. It’s true that being outdoors is a great conversation starter. You’re forced into it, and if the other person is receptive to it, there is no better place for one. No phones out. No, ‘I’ll just show you this’ or ‘what do you mean you haven’t seen it’…etc. No conversations based on something you’ve seen on your phone.
Big walks, big talks, and some of the best of my life. But what I’m wondering is the possibility of it being with yourself. Clear head, clear thoughts. Big walks, big ideas. A lot of mine have come from walking, whether its short dog walks around the village, long summer night walks, or extensive hikes over mountain tops and ridges, through forests and woods or coastal paths. These are the best. The only other time conversation gets better is around a fire, in the woods. I’m not even including the one in the pub in this, which some may argue can be just as good. Perhaps in the old days when we would converse around a table of pints, surrounded by foot thick stone walls, too many beams and no wi-fi.