Tag Archives: 51

Juice landscape

Friday 28th May 2021, 7.55am (day 3,564)

We can’t have the more resource-efficient carafes of fruit juice because that way we will get the plague, or something Then again, there seemed only three people breakfasting this morning in the hotel, like the scene in Invasion of the Body Snatchers when the main characters go out for dinner and it’s like, ‘where is everyone?’. Nah, we don’t do that kind of thing, in the anticipated future. The mirror in the background doubles up on the number of cartons, and also makes this a self-portrait, kind of.

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Embrace Sheffield

Thursday 27th May 2021, 7.35pm (day 3,563)

Embrace, Sheffield, 27/5/21

Gosh — sunny and warm weather, and a night out with friends. Embrace both, infeed. But like Manchester, the city of Sheffield is only half-alive, so much is boarded up, shuttered, or simply closed. Huge numbers have been vaccinated and still we are pushed the fiction that everyday life has become ‘unsafe’, that asserting our freedom is selfish. This virus will be around for the rest of our lives. Time to get used to it.

Tagged , , , , ,

Empty spaces

Wednesday 26th May 2021, 1.55pm (day 3,562)

Mytholmroyd car park, 26/5/21

This one is here more because I like the shapes and patterns than anything else. But I suppose there’s an ongoing sense of frustration at the remnants of lockdown, which hangs around like an irritating guest at a party that can’t get started with him there. We are in the ‘we’re doing it because we said three months ago that we would’ stage, as far as Authority goes — for of course, they cannot be seen to have changed their minds. Going on the front pages of the papers today even the media are not bothered any more. But Mytholmroyd station car park remains largely unused.

Tagged , , , , , ,

The white and the black

Tuesday 25th May 2021, 11.05am (day 3,561)

White and black calves, 25/5/21

Went out on a walk, not that the weather is getting any better — atypically, May 2021 has been a cold and grey month in the UK. These calves, particularly the black one, look as grumpy about this as I feel.

Tagged , , , , , ,

Rule 1: Follow mother

Monday 24th May 2021, 3.20pm (day 3,560)

Duck and ducklings, 24/5/21

Have I yet done 2021’s duckling/gosling pic? No? Well, here you are then. These balls of fluff can get up to a decent speed in the water, you have to give them that.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

There, in spirit

Sunday 23rd May 2021, 12.25pm (day 3,559)

Watching the play-offs, 23/5/21

Morecambe FC’s impressive season continues but even though fans have been graciously allowed to return to grounds thanks to the decrees of Our Glorious Leaders, this is in arbitrarily low numbers, so no chance of getting tickets for the play-off semi-final this lunchtime. A hunt around the local hostelries ended up with Clare (the real MFC fan) and I (the hanger-on) watching it in Halifax. The effort was worth it; they will be at Wembley on the 31st. Go Shrimps…!

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

About to depart

Saturday 22nd May 2021, 12.20pm (nearly) (day 3,558)

Doncaster train, 22/5/21

They’ve still got a couple of minutes before the departure of the 12:21 from Leeds to Doncaster. But we run anyway in these situations, don’t we; almost instinctively. It takes a certain confidence not to do so.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

The doorstep journey

Friday 21st May 2021, 11.30am (day 3,557)

Doorstep snail, 21/5/21

“Listen, I’m as pissed off as you it’s still very cold and wet for May. I have to forsake my usual comfortable haunts because the ground is too wet. And you’re not at risk of getting fatally stomped by random humans.”

Well, these are valid points. But it still let me stick my camera in its face.

Tagged , , , , , , ,

This morning’s dose of Zoombification

Thursday 20th May 2021, 9.15am (day 3,556)

Yet another Zoom, 20/5/21

And where are all the people who should be in the empty offices, as pictured yesterday? Trapped behind these magic mirrors, in some kind of netherworld. Myth becomes life, and slowly we fade away, losing more and more connections with the reality we once knew.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

The lights are on but (still) nobody’s home

Wednesday 19th May 2021, 9.05am (day 3,555)

Empty office, Booth St, 19/5/21

Booth Street, Manchester. This is the most public of workplaces, floor to ceiling windows on the ground floor. It has lain empty for 15 months now. Today, the lights were on — yet still no sign of occupancy. The ‘evacuation point’ sign seems somehow meaningful.

Tagged , , , , , ,