Today's drive

Food in the fridge, petrol in the tank; this morning I went taking photos near the Aon (Aulne) south of Pleiben, noticed on a sign-post 'Ar Stêr Aön' and I've been writing 'An Stêr', easier in 'Cymraeg' with just the 'y' and the 'yr'. As I've been flitting from village to village and chapel to chapel I've been thinking of the book I'm reading, with Ffrancis Payne going around Radnorshire but I lack the intimate knowledge he possessedI have to thank Dai Hawkins once again because I can't think of another book with which i could find such empathy. especially as it touches on my maternal grandmother's early life. The chapels take me back to the early Welsh saints, some who settled, some who returned home, and their Irish colleagues, leaving behind the many 'llans & 'plous', consecrating pagan land with their springs converted to holy wells with supposedly wondrous healing powers. the megalithic 'menhir' standing stonesand Gaulish steles having christian crosses stuck on top by the local priests, and phallic stones for barren wives to rub up against in the chapel grounds. Not being as fit & strong as I was only a few years ago due to accidents & illnesses, I've scolded myself for having visited so many holy wells and not tasted a drop, so today I drank from two. Invariably each chapel has its holy well, while each manor has its private chapel; today I visited a spot where the manor being in a state of dereliction had been cleared and the chapel converted into a gite. I drove past quite a few birds of prey out looking for food, some watching from poles, others hovering, I saw a rabbit still lucky to be alive, and a fox & hedgehog dead in the middle of the road having only recently been run over.