October 15th – Returning in the evening at the usual time is now crossing into the night: My commute now often starts in twilight and just about ends in darkness.
As I passed Catshill Junction on my way to the High Street on a sodden canal towpath, I just caught the last of the light.
Oh how I hate this gradual, inexorable slide into darkness.
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October 15th – Near Brownhills Common, the colours are changing fast now with the full autumn gamut – from the bright yellow-green of shedding birches to the crimson reds and deep golds of more… Exotic shrubs and trees.
On a wet, grey morning they can really perk you up. A delight to the soul.
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October 14th – A damp morning showed a remarkable range of fungi on the way to work. From what I thought was going to be a very disappointing season, there have been some remarkable displays of this remarkable kingdom.
These specimens were all in one short stretch of cycleway in Goscote and were absolutely fascinating.
One of the few redeeming features of autumn for me is definitely the fungi…
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October 11th – Although technically the next day, it was still my working Friday when I rode back home in a soaking wet, somnambulant landscape in the small hours of the morning.
I didn’t;t trust the few cars that were about, speeding around, so stuck to the canal where the only things around were roosting waterfowl and the odd, dejected and bedraggled fox.
I was tired and mentally dead.
Ah well, it’s the weekend…
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October 11th – On the way to work on the canal Walsall Wood, I noticed something one doesn’t normally see until early spring: This floating root, probably disturbed by Canal and River Trust efforts to remove the floating algae, is a rhizome of the water lilies that are so profuse here.
This remnant of the summer plant generally sinks to the canal bottom during winter, and when the water warms in spring, it becomes buoyant, floats with other detritus and then takes root, and when rooted, will grow that season’s lilies.
It’s a curious mechanism that actually works very efficiently.
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October 10th – A long day and late night at work. The journey home was dreadful, and reminded me that I among enduring The Suck, that horrible period of night-time commuting in the dark, when driving seems worse, the weather is hostile and the journeys drain you physically and psychologically.
Still, to have the gorgeous sunny summer days you need to have the winter, and even Walsall Ring Road can be surprisingly attractive when the wet tarmac, vehicle and street lights combine.
Roll on Christmas…
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October 9th – The fungus is really coming on now, I’m pleased to see a whole variety of mushrooms, balls, slime, mildew and brackets, some plain and some strikingly colourful.
Every day is a new discovery, and is one of the nicer aspects of autumn. These tiny parasols were growing on a grass verge in Chasetown, and although plain now, will be very striking when fully grown.
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October 9th – A rare journey to Chasetown in the morning saw me crossing Chasewater on a decent morning.
I noticed at the Nine Foot that the water level, thanks to recent rains, is now less than 200mm off full. It’s been a coupe of years since the reservoir was this full.
I don’t know why but I always get a childish thrill from seeing the water flow down the spillway.
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October 8th – Despite a flurry of updates, the generally lauded night mode on the new iPhone is very impressive but to me, still somewhat harsh.
On one of my favourite night subjects – Clayhanger Bridge – the image is impressive for a phone, but I think a real camera generally does it better, even with this incompetent behind it.
Maybe I’m being harsh myself…
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October 8th – Returning from Birmingham, caught suddenly in a shower on the platform at New Street Station, I was fascinated by the darkening of the sky, then the light catching the buildings as the end was in sight.
In all the mad, frenetic urban landscape, I love the power it still maintains to capture the light beautifully.
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