RUMBLINGS…

This is Sierra Jane Manning, born on Monday, March 16. This is supposed to be a (rare, occasional) outdoor blog but I suppose her name is as good as an excuse as any!

The birth was perfect and very swift. As Sierra was two weeks overdue, Steph was due to be induced but there wasn’t even time for that; less than four hours after contractions began, Sierra was delivered in the induction suite before there’d even been chance to get to the labour room.

In fact, Sierra was very nearly born on the ward’s bathroom floor. Steph delivered with only the lightest gasp of gazanairre – there wasn’t time for anything such as proper pain killers. Thankfully she didn’t need stitches afterwards either. Mother and baby came home yesterday and are doing perfectly; Sierra’s feeding well. No doubt I’ll get a hunger for outdoorsy again soon but for now every thing’s family flavoured and it tastes great.

Sierra’s name, of course, refers to the Sierra Nevada in California, the “range of light”. Steph and I hiked there along the John Muir Trail a couple of years ago. It’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and a place that holds special memories. Sierra is a fairly popular name in the US – and it’s also a very beautiful name! Ron “Pathfinder” Strickland who I met on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2004 suggested it a few weeks ago during a Skype chat we had… to him we say a very grateful “thank you” for such a beautiful suggestion. We owe you a pork pie Ron – it’s on its way, also via Skype!

And congrats to the wags at TGO who correctly predicted that Sierra’s name might have a PCT connection – by the way, the fluffy rabbit’s great folks!

To everyone who’s sent messages and presents, Sierra says “thank you - see you at the bar!”

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 03:55 pm and is filed under Legalise wild camping, Wild Camp Petition, Outdoors, UK Triple Crown, HOME PAGE, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.