THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD - JERANTO

This morning I went for a walk to Jeranto. Nothing new, you may well think, but this time it was substantially different to previous occasions since I was accompanied by my six year old granddaughter who had never been there beforeAdmittedly I was a little in trepidation, not only because some of the path is quite exposed, but also because the way back is for the first part uphill and rather steep and I wasn't sure that my walking companion would cope. I need not have worried, she took it all in her stride (literally), probably because there were a thousand and one distractions to keep her entertained along the way.

It was so rewarding and so refreshing to see this well-worn path through her eyes, eyes that delighted not only in the views, but in all those little and often unnoticed things along the way: an empty snail's shell, a couple of falcons wheeling high above us, a tiny flower growing out of a rock, a cricket virtually camouflaged on the path (she wasn't too sure about that one).

She saw her first dragonflies, delighted in the many butterflies fluttering around the rosemary bushes  in full bloom, fancied tasting a myrtle berry straight off the bush (not such a good idea) , picked numerous daisies and wild cyclamen to take to her mother and asked a thousand questions, not all of which I could answer.

From above the bay, I showed her the huge scar on the hillside caused by quarrying many years ago and told her that her great-grandfather had been one of the miners who had worked there at the time. We went down to the plateau, walked to its end and admired Capri in the distance. I didn't take her down to the beach, since I knew that I would never get her home! We will be back though, next spring, when it is warmer. That's a promise.