East Leake to Derby

After the cold weather of the last week it was nice to finally get a properly warm day. That being said it still rained on me in the last hour of walking, but I nevertheless wasn't cold. Apparently the early May freeze has been due to England being trapped between high and low pressure systems, drawing a Northerly wind down from the Arctic. I can confirm that the wind has been firmly northerly, and definitely felt arctic, but for much of today it was finally still, and actually warm.
To add to this springtime feel was my first sight of cygnets here, and a busy clutch of ducklings - and less pleasantly, large clouds of flying insects along the canals.

Contrary to my remarks about the increasingly hilly terrain yesterday, today's walk and horizons were completely flat. Much of my route wound along next to canals or the smooth River Derwent, however I am expecting that to change dramatically tomorrow as I head into the edges of the Peak District.

I also went back to listening to music today, partly because I had plenty of battery, and partly because I had less traffic to listen for. There is something truly joyous about putting all my music on shuffle - Riverdance is just as good to walk to as Guns n Roses, or even the boppy electronic music I dredged up from who-knows-where. Most jarring transition of the day however, goes to melancholy Passenger's "Riding to New York" immediately followed by Weird Al's "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi". What a day.