October 23rd – Specially for a lady in Brownhills who commented over the weekend that I didn’t photograph frogs and toads anymore – well, the truth of the matter is… I do if I see them!
No the damp, dark evenings are here I’m more likely to see the amphibian community taking the air, just as I spotted this lovely frog near a garden fence in Sheffield this evening on my way home.
I love the patterns frogs have; they seem unique in colour and variety from frog to frog.
October 22nd – A very decent, dark sunset descended on Brownhills. The day was still very windy, an rather wolfish so not really great for riding, really. But I can live with clear skies, a little sun and strong wind.
Sunsets like this, now hovering around 6pm before the end of British Summer Time next weekend, remind me that winter will soon be upon us.
October 18th – And here’s the problem. The clocks haven’t gone back yet – we’re still on British Summer Time – and look at those sunset and sunrise times, as shown by my bike computer. Both my commutes are now mostly in darkness.
This is profoundly sad to me. I love the light, the summer, the green. And for the next four months, I will be deprived of these things.
But then again, the hunger makes them more special when they’re present.
And so the season’s wheel turns onward.
October 5th – A headache-grey, overcast and unpleasant day that was as grim and hard to face as the weather on the commute. Work is challenging at the moment and leaving me incredibly tired, day after day.
I’ve never known a summer end so abruptly and just dive headlong into a grim, grey, lifeless autumn like this – yes, the fungi is plentiful and the trees beautiful; but day after day the grey, sunshineless gloom is hard work.
I need a holiday. Returning home via a gloomy Catshill Junction, I was, for once fed up of the view.
September 27th – The wet, dark, mentally arduous commute season has started.
Welcome to the suck.
And people wonder why I hate the dark months…
Filmed real time. Music is Mainframe ‘Take me Home’ – a lost classic.
September 25th – The day did have some things to commend it though, As dusk fell a mist was rising off the canal at Clayhnager bridge and in it’s dark way, it looked serene and beautiful.
I’m not really ready for winter but there’s nothing I can do about it now, so I guess I must find beauty where I can.
September 11th – Inescapable now, action is slowly but surely draping it’s cloak over the shoulders of later summer.
I notice the leaves are turning (maybe a little early), and tinges of red, gold and brown are catching hedgerows and woodlands. It’s now sunset way before 8pm, and we’re heading towards the darkness at an alarming rate.
But the beauty is there in the sunshine particularly, and my annual dread is beginning to ease a little…
February 19th – I had to be in work on a Sunday, unusually, early in the morning. After spending a few hours there, I decided to make the best of the day and head on to the canals of the Black Country. I shot over to Tipton, then through the Netherton Tunnel, wound around Brierley Hill to Stourbridge, out to Stourton and then all the way up to Wolverhampton on the Staffs and Worcester, heading back home on the good old Curley Wyrley to Bloxwich.
I love riding the Netherton Tunnel – at 3036 yards it’s a long one, and the effects of water seepage and time make it an interesting and dramatic journey.
Those air vents still remind me of something out of Doom or Quake.
Didn’t see another soul down there, either, which was odd. Bumble Hole at the far end was busy, though.
December 30th – Night finally fell at about 4:30pm near Middleton. Sunset was at 4:01pm. Already, as we move into a new year, the darkness is on the run once more.
Despite the cold, despite the mud, this made me very happy indeed.
Bring on the light!
December 20th – I keep passing this sign at the garden centre on the Chester Road near Mill Green, and as I passed it tonight, I realised that as with every year, it’s purpose had now all but ceased; few people will be buying the traditional nordman fir now, and so inexorably, the season is ticking away; One more day at work, then holiday, then on my return, a new year and nights that open out again after the winter solstice and shortest day, which occur the very next day.
Time marches on quickly for me these days, but this autumn, with the huge workload and long hours, has seemed particularly cruel.
I long for spring flowers, warm breezes and the sun on my face.
Soon be over the peak.
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