Joining Alice in Wonderland

It’s 2 years since I’ve been going for an early morning run and can now get beyond the bottom of the road. Recently I’ve been running up a hill called the Volador (Flyer). It’s where Olwen takes her sewing ladies for an outing: they walk up the road and at the top have their picnic and look out over the city.

However there are dirt paths going up which are not well known. One of these, at the back of the hill, is through gates which look as if they belong to a castle. Behind them is a clean tiled street, where horses are stabled. Sometimes a pack of dogs greets you or a cat stares. And this is when you feel you’re joining Alice in Wonderland. At the bottom of the street there is a bridge leading into woods. These were once the haunt of guerrilla gangs but are now eerily quiet. This morning a mini leopard jumped out on me, well it was a big cat – but frightened me just the same. Eventually you reach an old sign, “The Castle” where there is a police watchtower, manned by dogs. Then there’s another summit, normally hidden from sight, and near the top is a notice telling you to go away, with odd blue/orange flags hanging from trees, and wooden huts: it’s an army outpost.

Reaching the top of the Volador is exhilarating as the sun creeps up over the Andes, blinds you and then warmly kisses you. I’ve my shirt off – Olwen can’t see me.

Perhaps John had a similar experience in his vision of Jesus: “His face was like the sun shinning in its brilliance”.

Even Alice’s world has something real about it. Hallelujah.

Photo: Down the stables' street, heading to the Volador