I am not a good traveller. I resent the time taken to get to the destination, and am happier staying in and around my hometown which, happily, has everything I need and things that I don't need also.
I have travelled to different parts of the world, on holiday, and to live, (Iceland, Hong Kong, America, Luxembourg, France) and drawing on past experience conclude that I am very much the Cancerian part of my astrology, being born on the cusp of the signs, the 22nd July. Cancer being crab-like, carries its home on its back, its home is also a protective shell, a comfort zone, a haven, and I actively try to find the positive and beauty in the nearness and normality of things all around us.
This morning, for the second day, I drove to the Oxford Science Park, 16 miles distance, to attend a training course. As I queued in the traffic jam exiting the A34 I tried not to become frustrated behind the wheel of my car which was seemingly going nowhere for minutes on end. I did get there, and so did 1000 other cars I must have seen this morning. And although the training course was good, and the travelling a necessary evil, I did wonder how those other commuters coped with their journeys day after day.
I have been a commuter before and it doesn't sit well with me. It's something I avoid if possible so my conscious is clear on the eco-warrior front: car pollutants, fossil-fuel consumption, and not best use of time. But that's just my opinion, and sometimes opinions have to be sacrificed in the great scheme of things.
So, in the great scheme of things I have compromised my opinion, and am trying not to bring my travelling hang-ups, my baggage, on holiday with the family at Easter. Obviously, I'll need to take luggage, but that's just a practicality. The baggage in my head has to be dealt with first, and once I've got over this hurdle, the trip to Vietnam will be a doddle.
Anyhoo, some housekeeping of the blog at this point. Here are a few photos taken when Phoebe had her French Exchange student staying with us earlier this month. I'd love to have been there when she told her parents that we took her to see 'some stones'. OK, the Avebury Stone Circle is also a World Heritage Site, but, they are still 'just' stones....
We were lucky with the weather and the children burned off some energy...
Fairly certain this was a Kestral as I watched it hovering before it moved off into this tree.
This one makes me think of a teapot with a broken spout. I think it's the most oddly shaped stone of them all.
Right ho. Positive mindset. I've just finished reading 'H is for Hawk' by Helen MacDonald - the prizewinning autobiography of how she came to terms with the grief of the sudden death of her father by training a Goshawk called Mabel. A fantastically well written book, her prose takes you into the depth of the English countryside leading the way with a naturists eye for detail. Reading it felt comfortably enveloping, like you were in the copse with her attuned to the sound of the twigs breaking underfoot, or could feel the wind on your skin like she did on the hilltops when flying Mabel for rabbits. I can't do it justice here, and would recommend you read it if you're at all interested in birds of prey - as she also takes you into the world of TH White and his experiences training a Gos in the 1930s.
On that note I'll make note to self to pop along to the main library to collect my reservation of 'The Goshawk' by TH White, to see why it was so influential.
Night night y'all. Kat :)
I've just finished reading
I have travelled to different parts of the world, on holiday, and to live, (Iceland, Hong Kong, America, Luxembourg, France) and drawing on past experience conclude that I am very much the Cancerian part of my astrology, being born on the cusp of the signs, the 22nd July. Cancer being crab-like, carries its home on its back, its home is also a protective shell, a comfort zone, a haven, and I actively try to find the positive and beauty in the nearness and normality of things all around us.
This morning, for the second day, I drove to the Oxford Science Park, 16 miles distance, to attend a training course. As I queued in the traffic jam exiting the A34 I tried not to become frustrated behind the wheel of my car which was seemingly going nowhere for minutes on end. I did get there, and so did 1000 other cars I must have seen this morning. And although the training course was good, and the travelling a necessary evil, I did wonder how those other commuters coped with their journeys day after day.
I have been a commuter before and it doesn't sit well with me. It's something I avoid if possible so my conscious is clear on the eco-warrior front: car pollutants, fossil-fuel consumption, and not best use of time. But that's just my opinion, and sometimes opinions have to be sacrificed in the great scheme of things.
So, in the great scheme of things I have compromised my opinion, and am trying not to bring my travelling hang-ups, my baggage, on holiday with the family at Easter. Obviously, I'll need to take luggage, but that's just a practicality. The baggage in my head has to be dealt with first, and once I've got over this hurdle, the trip to Vietnam will be a doddle.
Anyhoo, some housekeeping of the blog at this point. Here are a few photos taken when Phoebe had her French Exchange student staying with us earlier this month. I'd love to have been there when she told her parents that we took her to see 'some stones'. OK, the Avebury Stone Circle is also a World Heritage Site, but, they are still 'just' stones....
Right ho. Positive mindset. I've just finished reading 'H is for Hawk' by Helen MacDonald - the prizewinning autobiography of how she came to terms with the grief of the sudden death of her father by training a Goshawk called Mabel. A fantastically well written book, her prose takes you into the depth of the English countryside leading the way with a naturists eye for detail. Reading it felt comfortably enveloping, like you were in the copse with her attuned to the sound of the twigs breaking underfoot, or could feel the wind on your skin like she did on the hilltops when flying Mabel for rabbits. I can't do it justice here, and would recommend you read it if you're at all interested in birds of prey - as she also takes you into the world of TH White and his experiences training a Gos in the 1930s.
On that note I'll make note to self to pop along to the main library to collect my reservation of 'The Goshawk' by TH White, to see why it was so influential.
Night night y'all. Kat :)
I've just finished reading
Stunning photos, especially the kestrel. It looks like you all had such a good day!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words Josie. I'm always alert to our friends in the sky.... I snap on a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10, which is handy but has its limitations.
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