Secret Places and the Loneliness of the Long Distance Independent

The life of the independent can be very lonely. Many of us work from home offices. When on site we interact with other people, but are still outsiders. So many of us have secret places that we go to in our minds from time to time to gather strength.

This rather wonderful photo by Gordon Smith focuses on the horses. As Gordon notes, they have one of the most wonderful views in the world. This is just hinted at in the photograph. Gordon has in fact photographed one of my secret places, a place that I found when I was nineteen.

The dirt road travels through pretty grazing country before plunging into the bush. In places it runs near the edge of one of the New England gorges with its spectacular olive, blue, green views.

I used to stop here for lunch. Sometimes just a picnic, at other times a BBQ with the chops sizzling over the fire and the wonderful and evocative smell of burning gum leaves. And always with the view of the gorge.

Further on, the road ends at the start of a paddock, a small hill where the horses stand, with (as Gordon says) almost a 360 degree view of the wonderful gorge country. Gordon goes on from here by foot. I was content to look.