The allocation of Mondays as designated stay-at-home days seems to have become a set pattern. Tools of my particular trade: the Mac, the backup disk, and we are at the time of year where the 2021 diary needs to come to the fore. It ain’t high adventure I know, but at the moment it’s what there is.
I don’t normally covet material goods. People, places, experiences, sure… but not normally things. Today I made an exception. Although it’s just as well the price of this marvellous item is concealed on this shot.
The River Duddon starts at Wrynose Pass and carves out a very fine course for itself, both with its valley and its spectacular estuary (which has featured in its own right on this blog, more than once). It’s just the kind of place that we need ever more in the modern world. The five cyclists you see here know this, I know this. This is the true measure of ‘public health’.
For the first time since the 6th March, face-to-face contact with actual University of Manchester students. And even then I should apparently not have been doing this. However, I’ve kinda stopped caring. I like this picture because it was just the shot I wanted to take when I pressed the shutter, and I got it on the first attempt. Mug, mask, maze of wires and all.
Another less-than-exciting day…. This is never the most dynamic time of the year, is it? And in 2020…. like these lights, we are all just waiting for Christmas, which may or may not make a difference.
This monstrosity spent the day plonked outside the house, squatting on the pavement, a metal pile of unfriendliness. Want to walk up Keighley Road? Naaah… sod you. There should be a law against it…. Oh, there is: double yellow lines. But those are clearly of concern only to wimps and lefties.
The traffic lights say go, for what cars there are. No social commentary today, I just like the effect of a fairly long zoom down Brook Street, taken on my way to the office.
Mondays have hardly been the most exciting days recently, even by present standards. But while, in no way, a decent photograph aesthetically, this is at least interesting. What you see here are Jupiter (the brighter one) and Saturn setting over Hebden Bridge, seen from my home. I did not realise this until today but apparently these planets are almost due to touch (from our perspective) on 21st December; the closest apparent conjunction since 1623. One to look out for, if you have any interest in astronomy.
This is the first time I have knowingly had Saturn in my viewfinder, and seeing as I had managed in the past to get a decent shot of Jupiter and its moons with my camera I did try for the rings. No joy — though the blurry disc I did get was, definitely, squashed-looking.
Misty weather discouraged a walk up anywhere high, but a nine-mile stroll along the Rochdale Canal to Todmorden and back at least stretched the legs today. While not really visible on this shot, this boat did have the remnants of a ‘For Sale’ sign painted on the side; I guess by now it’s probably quite a bargain, if you’re prepared to do the salvage work.
Saturdays are football days…. still just about. But while we might potentially have been in attendance at Morecambe FC today for their FA Cup tie with Solihull, this is declared ‘unsafe’ by Our Glorious Leaders at this present time, so like the other interested hundreds we had to make do with TV. The local mug and, in the background, Clare’s scarf offered totems of support. But it’s unreal, fake somehow. The trouble is that no one in ‘authority’ really gives a toss.
Being 42 