April Come She Will

Saturday 13 April 2024

After all of the training and preparations, finally the day has come for me to pack my bag and to set off on my LETJOG E2W walk! It is good tonight to be able to sit back and to relax, and to share a natter and a good meal with Rachel and her mum Ann, here in Langham near Colchester. We drove up to ‘Base Camp’ this afternoon, in advance of the start of my trek first thing tomorrow morning, just up the A12 in Lowestoft, and it is a great feeling to have finally finished all of my initial route planning, all of the accommodation arrangements for the first week of my journey, and, at last, to finalise all of those micro-decisions on what clothing and equipment and which bits and bobs justify their places in my small backpack. An early night beckons, and I hope to be reporting back on Day 1 of my walk tomorrow evening. Thank you all for the messages of support, these are very much appreciated.

‘April Come She Will’ is a folk song by Paul Simon, released by Simon and Garfunkel on their second studio album ‘Songs of Silence’ in January 1966. This is not by any means the first Paul Simon song title from which I have taken a Blog title heading, nor even the first from this particular album – I used ‘Kathy’s Song’ (recorded on the same day as ‘April’) on my LETJOG 2021 trek nearly three years ago. But the mellow composition seems to fit the moment – the hard work of planning my LETJOG E2W trek is done, and my fun walking part of the challenge is about to commence! As the lyrics of the song begin: ‘April, come she will, when streams are ripe and swelled with rain’: apt words, given the wet weather that we have had this early spring.