a fairly facile view of the ground plane. It may be that it bears the burden of my inefficient means of perambulation, anything other than a flat surface mounting a challenge to my forward motion, slopes and hills, in particular, being a damn nuisance. Even a flat plane may conceal incipient impediments: small variations to catch a lazy heel or more substantial changes in plane that require a break in step to ensure my ‘good leg’ is the first to land. If this were a particular response of monopods only, I would feel slightly aggrieved and treat it as yet further evidence of a malign universe. I received, though, some affirmation of the inherent untrustworthiness of landforms when, years ago, I was first asked to
