New Camera. New Lines.

Orion over Brent Knoll

After many years I have finally gone back to an SLR, digital this time so I am learning a new way of working. I’ve saved and with the help of Ebay got a nearly new Pentax K50, I have been searching for one at the right price and this came through at the right time. It’s had good reviews and is weather sealed, a must for when I am out in the mountains, I only have the standard lens at the moment, maybe later I’ll get a wide-angle one to use in landscape pictures.

Hopefully, once I know what I’m doing I’ll get better shots to use on my blog. I’m going to be using RAW a lot more, something which is pretty new to me, I have not done much with this format in terms of storing, adjusting etc, another part of the DSLR learning curve for me. I’m pleased so far with what I have got, like the night shot above, but I need to get better at focusing in the dark, lot of fuzzy edges in this batch, not good enough.

Sunset from Crook Peak

I’ve been here many times, but sunset, and a clear dark sky was too much to resist. The air was warm, the sky clear with a few stray clouds. The Mendips were deserted as is usual at this time, everyone at home watching tv or some such. I love being out as the sun falls away, the birds settling. Quiet and peaceful, except for all the bank holiday traffic heading Northwards and home. Such a mass of people all lost on the journey, I hope they had a good Easter Break, the traffic was slow and probably didn’t get better all night.

Traffic and stars over Brent Knoll

This month is NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Writing Month. Something I have done for the last two years so this time I’m taking a break and letting others pound out the verse. I’m still writing, our monthly poetry Café is next week and we have an interesting topic. Blood Oranges and Other Bus Trips. Maybe you think you can come up with something, post it in the reply box. My ideas, some parts of them are below, for your consideration.

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Fragments.

In reply to blood oranges, posted on FB.

You offered me your Oranges,
blood-red, scented and ripe.

Afterwards,
    after taking the flesh,
the honeyed juice running 
across the palm of my hands
down fingers to mark
    the tablecloth.

Afterwards...

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Borders.

We looked over at the four uniformed officers
of two bordering countries. We waited.
Looking , as only the British can, expectant.

They looked at us, confused, looked back
at each other and shrugged in pure European.
Before returning to us with questioning eyes.

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Easter is gone, The blossom has left the cherry tree and the leaves are turning green, watch the world turn and enjoy it every day. There is always something new to see, no matter how many times you go back to the same places. Travel as a tourist through your own back yard.

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Spring

Flowering Cherry

It was a weather spread bet this morning. Rain, chunky hail, wind and sunshine, the only disappointment was the lack of snow. We’re starting work on a major revamp of our kitchen this week, never underestimate how much soil a hole can set free. I think two bags appear for every one we fill.

I’m working on spring, hence the fist view of the flowering cherry in our garden. I noticed the fist blossom high in the tree a few days ago, and these have joined the party. I’m trying to catch the sunrise gold over this tree, glorious as we sit with morning coffee and look out of the window, it always raises the spirits to see it lit up with amazing colour.

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I am dipping into some old work and starting re-writing, I bumped into this and like the opening though it obviously needs a lot of work, things like this remind me how far I have come, this first saw the light of day sometime in 2001 –

Untouched blue sky, white cloud on the horizon,
cherry blossom makes an impromptu showing.
Testing the air for spring and the flowers that
will soon follow.

I had the first reminder for NaPoWriMo today, but I think this year I’ll relax and take the month off, watch other people bashing out the poems and enjoy myself with all the reading I can do that month. Have fun as winter turns into spring this month, I will mark its passing somehow, a little snow item to remind us of the journey we are all taking, every day of our lives.

Watching.

Watching Out.

A follow on post from an idea on Josephine Corcoran’s blog a post titled “In the wee small hours, someone’s working“. Awake at the wrong end of the day, apologies for the camera shake, it was a windy morning as the sun came up. Scanned from a negative.

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Night Watch.

Watching from the darkness
just outside the light of the street,
when sleep is the order of the moment.

Walking fence lines and back roads,
waiting for something, coffee perhaps
or boardgames and night TV.

Pass time moments between shift change
and happenings, orders and stand-by,
stand down and sleep the day till dusk

and back, on watch, watching for
early wakers and the dawn chorus,
the blue sky before the sun.

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As an aside, this is my 300th post. Never thought I’d make it this far, thanks everyone for stopping by over the last few years and reading my rambles. Have fun, it’s life after all.

History.

Lonely Outpost

History.

Remember
The woods the back alleys and jitties
The cut-throughs and tracks or gravel pit lane
The smell of a school
Rough and mud of the field out back where everyone went
Running about with wild intermingled games

Ending then when the men left marching
And the boys we were
We knew as they joined
Leaving together in lines
Stretching away from us
So few returning
Thin lines of letters
Each wait interminable

The sounds of the wind across the fields
Home that clean fresh idea that brings it back

Remember

Looking up to see the shading
Of the light
green in the trees
And wild stories told on the run

And now
Knowing it and remembering each moment
Wanting what it meant
Making it mean something
In the passing of a year you might miss
In the blink of the strike
With the flash ringing in the same woods
Where quiet wanders looking for space
Where paths cross contours
In straight lines through the roots
Of trees that are not for hiding in anymore.

NaPoWriMo Rewrite. His Story, taken back 100 years ago today.

An Easy Time Evening.

Moonlight.

Remembering how it is, when you visit friends or they visit us. Sitting out in the garden on a summer evening, and there is just some moments that stay forever. This is for all the good times shared with all of you. I’m catching up on some notes, but have finished my notebook on this trip so I need to find another. Just a small Moleskine to use for now.

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An Easy Time Evening.

when the sun has gone but the warmth remains,
when the coffee comes and the stars turn,
and silence and words tell the same story.

The night-time animals take over
the wildlife noises, and the moon hints
at being around for a while,

clear sky lifts the spirits and we all
look up and away from real life
to dwell somewhere in our thoughts.

The words come, and we break away
back to our world, smiling and laughing
quietly as we climb into cars,

waving away the evening
the silence of the sky and the stars,
the moon and the moment.

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It’s very hot here at the moment, so I’ve been out early to clear some land. Now we are hiding from the oven like heat and drinking iced water to help cope. Still travelling but having fun, although we head back soon to the real world.