Northern Slopes

Since I'm growing increasingly conscious that my little furlough holiday is drawing to a close, I set up a meeting with Louis to discuss dialogue for his vegetables. I wanted to get a hefty chunk of the work done before my start date so he had some more stuff to work with, so we chatted about what stuff he considered imperative to the game's release. We chatted about the goals of the game briefly too and it was good to know I was already working towards his brief without him explicitly telling me. I just know his vibes so I ran with it. Upshot of it was I got plenty to keep me busy now and a clearer direction of what to write over the next few weeks.

Just before 8:30 this evening I was struck with a sudden realization: I didn't want to do anything. No games, no books, no TV. I just really fancied a big walk. So I slipped on some shoes and my headphones and I went out with the intention of 'getting a bit lost' - and that's exactly what I did. After going on auto pilot I walked to a nearby vista then spotted a bizarre looking stairway way off in the distance. I made it my mission to get there and see what was at the top. A short trek later I found myself at the foot of the steps, and at the entrance to The Northern Slopes, a nature reserve that I never even knew existed. It was vast too! Sometimes the walkways were paved and street lit, other times I was walking through waist high brambles and disturbing nesting birds. Every so often though I came upon a clearing that offered unadulterated views of Bristol as the sun was setting.

I hasten to mention that all the while I was listening to an album Louis recommended to me and it was appropriately creepy. The sun started to set just as the final track came on, which is quite literally an 18 minute long recording of a piano on fire. Hearing the sounds of crackling fire, snapping strings and the hollow clanks of gnarled wood I decided it was time to head home. But what an experience!