February 6th – A great, frosty and beautiful dawn which although out in, I didn’t manage to capture as I was running late and couldn’t stop. By sometime, though, the weather had turned – raining and windy, it was a horrid ride home.
I stopped on the Anchor Bridge for a breather and to adjust my clothes. It was a truly horrible journey and I felt wet, cold and uncomfortable.
It’s not often the working day is bracketed by such wildly differing commutes. But I’m glad that one’s over, for sure.
February 5th – A day that started horribly murky and then picked up, and towards the late afternoon as I headed to Lichfield for shopping, the sun came out and once again spring insinuated itself in the flowers, the colour, the families enjoying the light and in a terrific sunset.
So lovely to see the world reawakening for another year.
February 2nd -Spring is easing inn slowly, and unlike the seasonal transitions from Summer to Autumn and Autumn to Winter, this one makes me very happy indeed. I’ve been finding myself almost in the light commuting to and from work – it won’t be long now until the darkness is pushed back enough to feel truly alive again. And in the meantime, isolated pockets of early flowers, like the cheerful yellow acolytes spotted in Victoria Park in Darlaston.
Won’t be long now. Just have to keep the faith!
February 1st – An odd morning. I had to go to Tipton, then Telford and as it was raining when I left, I headed to catch the train. Sadly, assuming the service I caught stopped at Tipton when it didn’t, I ended up at Wolverhampton. With a 30 minute wait in store and the weather clearing, rather than hang around, I hopped onto the canal at Horseley Fields and rode to Tipton on the canal.
Ninety minutes and a breakfast later, I took a train to Wolverhampton, and then one from there to Telford, so I did a sort of loop around the north Black Country.
It actually felt springlike at Wolverhampton, but the picture doesn’t convey it at all. But the weather was warm, and dry save for a strengthening wind, and there was a definite joy in the spring flower shoots on the towpaths and verges I passed.
February already – where did January go?
January 26th – On a particularly bitter day, pulling up at my destination in Telford and pushing the bike through the complex, a flash of white and yellow caught my eye.
Tiny, on it’s own and in the shade of a tree, a single, presumably somewhat confused daisy.
Hello there, little flower: in the cold and grey, this morning you made my day.
January 22nd – It was hard leaving the house today. Occasionally in winter it can be, and on yet another headache-grey day, I didn’t expect to find much of note. A 25 mile ride was fast, and the bike felt good under me, but the lack of light was tortuous and made for very poor images. I looked in vain for something of the coming spring – aconites, maybe, or even snowdrops – but all I found was Mrs. Muscovy, the Newtown One, who seems to be getting friendlier – actually waddling towards me today until she realised I had no food. Either she’s been taking tutelage from the begging, uncouth swans or someone’s feeding her and making her tame.
I hope Foxeh isn’t paying attention.
Way more skittish and frustratingly hard to photograph in any light, let alone this murk, the goo sanders are still speeding around the local canal, here near Ogley Junction. One of the three females present last week seems to have departed, but the remaining birds are acting like a close unit.
January 21st – It seems my optimism at the dawning of the light the previous day was seriously misplaced. Saturday was grey and cold and had nothing to give in it’s merit.
I slid out around dusk after spattering the bike: as usual when fixing up a steed, it always feels faster and way better, although what I’d done had not affected the drivetrain at all. Perhaps it’s a salved guilty conscience over lack of maintenance that makes it ride better.
Chasewater at night has lost none of it’s magic, and I guess we’re again heading into the season of good sunsets, which is another thing to be positive about, but as it was today, the lake and park were still and cold, save for the gentle grumbling of swans sheltering in the lee of the dam.
Spring will be nice this year, I’ve decided…
January 20th – Then, as if by magic, the light appeared to save my soul.
Or at least, that’s how it felt.
I set out early on a frosty morning I wasn’t prepared for, and had a few interesting moments on black ice. But there was one notable feature as I rode to Darlaston at the same time as every other day this week – The sky, gently lightening to the east. It filled my heart with hope – and the roofs of Darlaston looked gorgeous against a bright dawn. This was much more like it.
Mid morning, I popped to Telford on a morning beautifully draped in a thin, opalescent mist. From the train it hung low over the countryside and was beautiful, and even the M54 wore it well.
Just as I thought there was no end, a sign of a new beginning. I saw the light, and it was good.
January 11th – The spring flowers know. They’ve started. Jack in the Green has tapped the ground with his cane, and they’ve started to grow.
Soon, folks: soon. The flowers know.
January 6th – A damp morning errand took me across the Black Country to Great Bridge, and in the small border of a household garden near the town centre, these gorgeous flowers, spotted with rain.
It’s quite hard to find natural, optimistic colour at this time of year, but I’m so glad I did. I’ve been missing the simple joy of flowers for too long.
A real tonic.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 