Pendle Hill

This is what Pendle Hill looks like from a distance. Up close,
at the base, it is very intimidating and large.
We took four coach buses up to Pendle Hill, leaving from
the courtyard at Lancaster University that sits about halfway
between where our accomedations were, and where the dining hall
and Great Hall (where we met for daily worship, and had the
international dance) were. It took about an hour to get there
from where we were staying in Lancaster. On the way there we
passed dozens of pastures filled with cattle, sheep, horses
and some pigs. As we proceeded closer, the buses made a
gradual ascent up the terrain, which after a while turned
to very steep ground. By the time we emptied the buses,
we were upon a quite high altitude (for England anyways).

As we began the climb, it wasn't too hard. There were
Quakers from local meetings there leading the way for us,
and upon meeting them, we could shake their hand if we wished.
It was pasture-ish still in this area that we were in starting
out, but the path after a little while turned to rock. (No,
it didn't morph like that in front of our eyes, it was made
that way!) During the part where it started getting really
steep, I was feeling like I was dying, because I couldn't
breath, as the result that my exercise-induced asthma has
on my lungs when put under such stress as hiking, swimming,
or running. Of course I didn't have an inhaler with me,
and the one I still had from my previous prescription was
sitting at home, empty. I did take short breaks, as others
did, but didn't stop for too long because I didn't want to
give up.
I have done this before with the not giving up stuff,
like when I was on the track team my senior year in high
school and was at a track meet. I had just finished my
running event, the 1600 (aka the mile), and then was
whisked quickly off to the long jump (my other event),
still out of breath in the meantime. I was the last one
to do my jumps, and that day, despite being out of breath
and exhausted, I got my best distances that I ever had for
the long jump that season.
Back to more about Pendle Hill. I was wheezing the whole
way up, but didn't stop for more than a few seconds,
before proceeding on again. The feeling of relief and
accomplishment was so great when I finally got to the top.
I felt like Atlas lifting the world on his shoulder. On
the other hand, my outcome of this wasn't quite like the
one George Fox had many years before on this exact
location.
We got to the top and were greeted by about a dozen or so
mountain sheep. The sheep chased some of us, while some
of them ate the lunches of others. These weren't generic
sheep...they were armed with horns, so I don't think that
they were Quaker sheep. Oh well! Not every creature in
the world can be a Quaker, but wouldn't it be nice if
they could!