Richards Ramblings

Grit in my boot Its late but still dark as I stumble around my house gathering clothes, boots, and camera. All done while trying not to wake up my wife. Its 6 am which in fairness is not that early compared with the summer months but the sun comes up in 40 minutes and I have a 20-minute walk to get to my preferred location. Fortunately, by the time I get out, it's just getting light enough to see without a headtorch. My camera is always...

Alone time, today I am by myself, my wife is at work. So, I get a little freedom. Not that I need it in that sense, she is very good to me. I have a hankering for the coast and the sea, but woodlands are calling as well and closer. What I really need is space and an escape from cars, people, and hustle. Particularly the hustle. That rules out the Coast and a one-and-a-half-hour drive just to be surrounded by hordes of people. The woods sound...

Habits It’s Funny how easily you slip back into habits. During the last lockdown, I was up at stupid o’clock to capture the dawn. During the intervening months, this has slipped. Primarily because I get too tired during the week to get up early. But today; today I was up predawn. Not 3.30 am but 6.15. Out walking with my head torch showing the way down a muddy leaf strew path. Aiming for my favourite haunt. Today was absolutely stunning...

It’s all different now For the first time in three months, I am up before the sun walking to my favourite spot on the river. There is still the huge question of why I can get up early and drive for 2 hours to see customers for my day job but not, it seems, get up early and walk for 15 minutes to get some dawn shots. What do I mean by its all different now? Its how the countryside feels. Or, more correctly how it makes me feel. Part of me...

Flood and fenland Once more the grey blanket of cloud rolls overhead with a foreboding of yet more rain onto an already soaked ground. The fact that I live next to a flood plain near fenland does not concern me. It’s what they are for, to flood when the river bursts its banks. Most of Cambridgeshire is reclaimed from bog and marshland needing constant tending or it would revert back to this state. The constant battle between water and...