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Hiking in the time of the Coronavirus. That could be the shortest post I would have ever written, consisting of nothing but a blank page.

Actually, one could spin that off into an entire book – one of those novelty issues where empty page follows empty page: “The Great German Book of Humour”. ” Fine English Cuisine”. “Atlantic Crossings of the Titanic”….

But, as a Chinese proverb has it: In every crisis, there lies an opportunity. (This is also sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein. Although the earliest reference that researchers could find for this quote was apparently a piece of corporate literature from 2012.)

If longer journeys are no longer possible and even shorter trips are faced with logistical difficulties of all kinds, we are finally free to concentrate on what is near and what we have carelessly ignored when we had other, seemingly more exciting alternatives.

There is a whole world of beautiful things to discover in our backyards

"in the local park - Hiking in the Time of the Coronavirus"

… hiding right under our noses, particularly at this time of year.

Every town, every city has a public garden of sorts. Go there now, and go there often: you cannot step into the same park twice because nature changes constantly, sometimes quite visibly so within a few days.

What is here today, may be gone tomorrow …

… and where there is nothing today, tomorrow you may find a field of flowers. Or a large flock of birds, returning from warmer climes.

From the ashes of winter, new life is growing as we speak. This can be a source for comfort in hard times.

Make the best of what is clearly a less than perfect situation. Which is what we are trying to do in the place where we are temporarily (one hopes) stranded, a little patch of North London near our former family home.

This is not to tell you to ignore the advice never mind the binding instructions of your national government.

But even in France – where regulations are stricter than in most other countries – exercise is one lawful reason to step out of your area of confinement.

Other jurisdictions go further and positively encourage brief trips outside the home, and – I think – rightly so. After all, contact with nature – or what passes for nature these days – is something which is as essential for the well-being of our souls as social contact.

This is not something that we do, for entertainment or any other purpose: it is what we are.

"enjoy nearby parks - Hiking in the Time of the Coronavirus"

All of this is a rather roundabout way of announcing that the Easy Hiker website will be suspended for the time being.

One reason for this is that it is getting increasingly difficult to move around the country, but even if I had a hundred posts up my sleeve rather than the two that are stashed away in my (electronic) drawer, I would not want to release them right now.

Writing about hiking at times like this is at best a symptom of tone-deafness, but more likely … well, wrong, pure and simple. It feels like publishing cooking recipes in the middle of a famine.

Read also: The Odd One Out Among London Parks

We cannot say for how long we will be offline, but I can assure you that we hope to be back when this crisis has run its course.

We’ll meet again, dear readers: don’t know where, don’t know when, but I’m sure it’s going to be a sunny summer day, somewhere out there in the small outdoors.

"looking forward to better times - Hiking in the Time of the Coronavirus"

How would hiking in the time of the Coronavirus be like for you?

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