Slope at the Edinburgh Castle

Bonnie has a business meeting today, a beautiful sunny sunday, at Edinburgh. Oh well, it's only one hour's drive. I would not mind driving. Let's get there together. Ashley and I dropped Irene off at the Edinburgh castle. We have been there many times now. So we decided to stroll down to the city for a walk, at least that was what I thought in the beginning.

On the right of the castle there are a few steps, following by a long winding path along a quite steep sloped hillside. We started to follow the path, which was a nice easy walk. The sun is out there and we were supposed to enjoy the easy stroll. But we were not. Edinburgh is not famous of a warm sunny day. Even there is one, it is ususally accompanied by a cold chilling wind. It is a tortune when half of your body tells you to enjoy the rare sunshine, while the other half is shivering. It didn't take long to make a decision - get down to the destination as quickly as possible. It is not those time to enjoy the scenic walk leisurely.

I asked if Ashley was happy to charge down the slope, instead of following the path. She rolled her small eyeballs and looked down the slope. Pausing for a moment, she quickly nod her head, seemingly equally hesitating and yet knowing that it would be an exciting adventure. We detoured and stepped outside of the path. Forget about conformity, let's be a little adventurous.

A path on the slope is obvious, showing that it has been explored by other people. But it is still slanted at a high degree. It has been walked, so the path has become sandy and muddy, after being washed overnight. It is still a challenge for Ashley, to balance and find a way to go down. She held my hand and walked slowly. She did not looked back what she has walked, but instead looking carefully at each step she was going to take. I had to go slowly and gave her instructions. I could have hold her and run down the slope but it would have lost the whole idea of being advantureous for her.

It took us a little time, probably more than what we needed to take the concrete path. In the end, we got down at the bottom safely. Maybe my original purpose taking a short cut to get to a warm place have not achieved. But when I looked at Ashely's eyes, filled with the sense of achievements and satisfaction, it is worth taking that little risk together with her.