Writing
Edale was the first Peak District area I knew. Initially with a post card, then for my first trip. The picture was exquisite. Not the big hills of the Lake District, but different curves with their own beauty. You have to approach the Peaks differently for photography, and light is particularly important. I prefer bigger […]
Surely if wind can, if rain can. But which cannot be held never be held and is no flower – Cormac McCarthy And a river runs through it – Norman Maclean Who made the world, asks Mary Oliver in her poem The Summer Day. It’s a simple line I return to. She changes the usual […]
Do I dare Disturb the universe? – T.S. Eliot There’s a little known Canadian film called I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing. I watched it many years ago. A friend, who was a Buddhist, said “it’s a nice film” in an emphatic way which caught my attention. I’ve watched it perhaps eight times since, and […]
Another way critics have of describing nature writing is to call it the literature of place – Barry Lopez The sky is white as clay, with no sun – Phillip Larkin The walk starts with a choice. Turn left, go down a pathway worn in the grass. The first time I went there felt like […]
Then spoke the thunder – T.S. Eliot Religions don’t interest me but philosophy does. Not so much the scholasticism of Western endeavour, but elsewhere and from ancient time. Aslan tells the children in Narnia: you don’t understand, there’s an old magic, much older, which always rules. One of the principles of Sufism is called time […]
Creatures, I give you yourselves, said the strong, happy voice of Aslan – C.S. Lewis “It’s beautiful isn’t it” she said and I replied “yes but not much autumn left. We’re on the cusp of winter.” She agreed, the Park Ranger, and referred to her cold morning. I was there for autumn, not winter, but […]
Of all seasons autumn has most effect on me. I love spring and summer with the flowers and big warm days. Don’t like winter or its approach. The ninth month of the year is getting close and a time, for me, of dread. Last winter was particularly hell-like and my lockdown escape consisted of drives […]
It is only by going off the track that you get to know the country – E.M. Forster Ideologies, like dogs, remain just outside the hermit’s door – Sylvain Tesson People collect pebbles, feathers, flowers, to record their nature walks. Ferns perhaps or leaves, inserted into journals with weather notes. I tried sketches and connect […]
They’ve made it again, Which means the globe’s still working, the Creation’s Still waking refreshed, our summer’s Still all to come – Ted Hughes, Swifts The British psyche is closely related to weather. Other places are easily warm and blue, a few always icy, but Britain is fickle with a trend towards grey. If […]