Tag: commute

March 13th – I headed for work feeling otherworldly and not really well at all. Nothing specific, but I was very tired, and I felt light headed, and not really there. On the way, the only thing that really broke my mood was the profusion of daffodils, which seem really early this year (but I don’t think they are).

I booked an appointment with the doctor for later in the week, and got to see a medical friend in the meantime.She told me I’d got low blood sugar and a previous medical issue was most likely playing up again, it would seem.

Sometimes it’s just nice to know you’re not losing the plot, and you really are unwell. Because once you know you’re not well, you know you’ll get better.

March 10th – The light held over the lanes as I headed for home – not a great sunset, but a good one, nonetheless. The lanes were eerie and quiet, and contrary to my expectations, it seems Keepers Cottage at Footherly remains. I had expected it to be demolished, as had the derelict cottages further down the lane; however, time and the elements seem to be doing the job instead.

A lovely, spooky commute home.

March 10th – A sign spring is finally upon us happened this evening – I returned from Birmingham just in time to catch the remains of the daylight dying over my homeward commute from Shenstone station. This is always welcome, and it’s nice to photograph this beloved landmark in anything other than darkness and sodium light.

This is just the best station. A great place to depart and come back to…

March 9th – A gorgeous, sun soaked early spring commute, a little bit into the wind, but no less gorgeous for that. I rode fast through the backstreets of walsall, enjoying the sun on my face, and for some reason today at 7am, all I could smell in Darlaston was bacon cooking.

I spotted these gorgeous primroses, just dying to be noticed in Kings Hill Park. They almost glow in the sunshine.

March 7th – I noticed on the way to work that another spring achievement had been unlocked – the hawthorn hedges are sprouting beautiful, bright green leaves, that smell fresh and look gorgeous.

I always welcome the spring greening and any step towards it, and seeing these fresh leaves this morning was a welcome and happy surprise.

I know we’re not out of the winter yet – after all we had some of the heaviest snows for years in April 2013 – but it feels like the cold and dark is ending now. Whatever happens now will surely only be a transient to something much better.

March 2nd – As I said yesterday, the season of transition is upon me; and that includes the period of travelling – on good days, at least – in the golden hour.

I often talk about this magical time, when just approaching sunset the light becomes soft, suffused with pink and gold and changes everything it touches to a precious, rare jewel.

There are few better places to catch such a time than Kings Hill Park and the view of the Twin Sisters. Bathed in the evening sun, they looked even more majestic than usual, but so did the park, and the sunset on the way home along the canal wasn’t too shabby, either.

This’ll do.

March 1st – For me now is the time of the half-light. My morning commutes are well into light now, and most welcome that is; but evening commutes are mostly on the cusp of day and night, light and dark, optimism and pessimism. 

This commute started in a grey, overcast light with a strong tailwind and and the threat of rain that arrived as I rode the canal back to Brownhills. The sky though, transformed from a grey murk into a remarkable, beautiful, luminous blue which captivated me.

Even though it was raining, I couldn’t miss capturing this.

Within 10 minutes, the light had died and night had fully fallen – but I was so glad I caught the moment.

February 28th – After some grim weather over the last few days, I thought I’d seek out a weather app for the Edge, the Garmin GPS based bike computer I use. I’ve tried Accuweather, and it’s really rather good.

Accuweather loads via the Garmin IQ App Store, and uses a paired iPhone or similar to access internet weather data; it then gives what I’ve found to be fairly accurate predictions of wind and precipitin for the next two hours. It’s in an easy to read format, and if free of charge.

Being a widget, it’s accessed by swiping sideways from the pull down status screen, which had me fooled for a bit. It only loads data when accessed, so it’s power and phone plan friendly to boot.

It accurately predicted the rain that dappled the screen…