Clouds to the north of us and clouds to the south but here it's bright and sunny.
Some very alien looking flowers coming into bloom in the long grass down by the shore. Cabbage whites flit around enjoying the warmth of the new day.
The starlings sitting happily on the telephone wires look like notes on a stave. All our local birds seem to have had a bumper year. After the ravages of avian flu this is strangely reassuring. We see the first of this years deer - a small wee thing barely visible between mother and father.
Some bright spark at the university has organized cycle tours of the town for parents of incoming undergraduates. We are confronted by a group of doughty Americans trying to master their balance while coordinating their steering. Pavements are their preferred habitat. Once underway nothing can stop them. They are a cheerful but teetering bunch. Perhaps they'll get more adept as the day goes on ? 20% of this years intake will be from the US which explains why the bike tours are almost always populated by Californian 50 somethings. A man in a check shirt informs us " I haven't been on a bike in thirty years ".
Restaurants and bars are getting busy again.
" Look out! The slope is steep and the road is slippery." Perhaps not the most cheerful topic for the first chapel service of the new semester for the assembled freshers but certainly a suitably Presbyterian one.
8 comments:
Hari Om
The wildflower is Bladder Campion, I believe. And it was with a degree of shock that I realised, with your mention of it, that it is probably more than thirty years since I was on a bicycle (or owned one, certainly), though I'd like to think my balance would be as good now as it was then... 🥴 YAM xx
The flower is Silene Vulgaris. Here, in north Spain, is very common.
It has been too long since I was last on a bike, not 30 years, but too long. It looks like a wonderful way to tour the town.
The things I learn here (yes, googled due to curiosity). Silene Vulgaris species, common name Bladder Campion. ;) Also shocked: haven't been on a bike since I fell off one in the 1970s. The wine involved need not be recorded.
The stunning photos of your local wildflowers are always greatly appreciated. I practically lived on my bicycle when young. Quite a few years ago I thought to ride again after a long spell, assuming my old skills would still be there. I was promptly disillusioned.
Bladder Campion. Lovely perennial.
This late night owl was definitively depressed by reading the early riser link.
It is now 11:30 PM; I think I need another glass of wine before going to bed.
"Look out! The slope is steep and the road is slippery." Ah! The road to perdition. Been there; got a t-shirt.
Post a Comment