What could be better for the start of a hash than a farm (with “haylage”) which is also an outdoor drinks centre? Sunshine, scenery: all the cards were winners. Who could find fault?  Yes, well……

  For the first 25 minutes the trail stayed resolutely on blacktop, including a first check which took us back to the start.  Fair enough, but on black?  Eventually we did get 15 minutes in very familiar countryside, before reverting to black and turning back north; as far as we could see the short-cut there marked remained on black, but the main trail did take us into woodland.  And here comes a conundrum.  The group I was with – at that stage Le Pro, Hopeless (his real name is Hopgood, which sounds like a better handle for a hasher than the moniker he has acquired), Moonwalker and myself – came upon a check which had not been marked through, though the Checking Chicken and numerous runners faster than we must surely have been ahead of us then. Anyway it proved hard to solve (a back check to the second turn behind us; we lost time exploring the first such turn.)  So by then we had acquired Petal, Master Bates, and the Cunning Linguist, and remained this group till we reached the sip-stop.  We even found enough mud to remember the shiggy of the winter and spring.  Some of us lost the flour, but we stumbled upon the others soon after, who had been more attentive.  We never saw anyone else, till we came upon the walkers, though at times we believed we could hear calling.  The drink on offer was gin and tonic, expertly served by Clever Trevor.  And then back to blacktop till we were once again in that same area where we had first checked, with a strong sense of déjà vu.  The hare, Chunderos, was presiding over the sip-stop: she had told us at the start of a downpour at 8 am that day which none of us had noticed.  Certainly some of the flour looked weary, or washed out.

  ‘IsKnees is back to putting in a strong performance during the trail, so he earns congratulations on his recovery, though at the farm he and Chastity Belt had resolutely defied the parking prohibitions.  I sometimes try to count how many we are at the start of a trail, but am always thrown by the way people park elsewhere and rejoin us just as we begin.  Today I suppose we were in the low 30s, and I must report that some of the non-runners, like Terminator and ‘Ardon Provocateur, really did begin the trail as if they intended to do it all.  We often see them at the end, but their presence at the start was extremely welcome.  One large contribution to the Surrey version of Happy Families.

  Last week you got a quiz about your views; today’s is more personal.  Have you always made the right decisions?  About your career?  During your career?  About your partner?  Your friends? Your holidays?  Your choices for recreation?  (You may omit hashing; no on hashes who does not enjoy it!).  To some extent these questions may seem otiose; no one has ever gone through a life without making at least some mistakes, and I suppose most of us just recognise that and get on with our lives, but it is interesting (perhaps also disconcerting) to look back at a long life and think where we could have made better choices, thought a bit harder or a bit longer.

  On On, FRB

[Ed: Personally? Wrong decisions on all of the above, except holidays.  I daren’t venture an anwser on any of the questions posed last week for fear of getting into deep water!]