Writing

summer’s almost (but not quite) gone

Image | | andy townend

Give me a land of boughs in leaf
A land of trees that stand
Where trees are fallen there is grief
I love no leafless land
― A.E. Housman

At this time of year, I tend to drop my vinyl copy of The Doors’ Waiting for The Sun on the platter and listen to Summer’s Almost Gone.

It is 7 October, after all.

Except, on this specific 7 October, it was 31C, in the afternoon. Not particularly autumnal.

There are some signs, in the photos (below), of the change in season. Some.

In other news, I have signed up for NaNoWriMo, so, from 1 November, and until 30 November, I will be attempting to write 50,000 words, and hoping at least some of them will make sense we will see what we will see…

If you are interested, I have tried writing here before…

Musings, very sporadically, out in the midday sun.

Random thoughts (or poems if you stretch a point) from lockdown in Accra in April 2020, am thinking of publishing these.

My first sustained attempt to write anything, Dark Side Thursday.

WordPress Writing 101 back in April 2015.

Be seeing you…

*Images made with Nikon D850 and AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8E FL ED lens*

out (again) in the midday sun

Image | | andy townend

You always own the option of having no opinion.
There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control.
These things are not asking to be judged by you.
Leave them alone

– Meditations, Marcus Aurelius

It has been a long time since I posted here actively, or at all, and I do keep promising to remedy that.

For several years these pages, and others, have sustained and inspired me through difficult times.

So, with no promises, I’m back for a moment, perhaps longer.

The images which follow were captured on a walk on Saturday, 30 September. The skies were a deep blue, the temperature was around 33C and some, who saw my related posts on Facebook, asked where I was. The answer was not Australia, or somewhere in Africa, as some reasonably surmised. No, I was a short walk away from home in the province of Salamanca, on the last day in September. The dusty red paths a testament to the reality of climate change.

There is no particular theme or message in my photos.

They are simply what caught me attention (again) on a well trodden path…

  • There are, of course some (unintended) themes, notably barbed wire, and an impaled coke can which seems to have developed a life of its own.

It is good to write and shoot again.

Be seeing you.

*all images made with my fujifilm x100f and its fixed 23mm f/2 lens, minimally edited in Lightroom with Fujifilm’s luscious velvia profile*

about Christmas…

Image | | andy townend 
about christmas
        russian shell(s)
        ukraine hell(s)
about christmas 
        freezing cold
        forgotten old
about christmas
        homeless (not) hopeless
        clueless politician, regardless
about christmas
        behind closed doors
lie (closed) minds
about christmas
        how much, is enough
               for you
                   for them
                       for us
let's talk... about christmas

exposed

spotted

spirit (me away)

not just for christmas

not the pandemic 

do you feel lucky?

palmed off

face off

caged dreams

lack of intimacy

you looking at me?

where are all the little people?

no, on reflection

closed (for christmas)

*images made with Fujifilm X100F with fixed 23mm f/2 lens*

lockdown | discover | thirty poems

Image | | andy townend

Throughout April, Ben Huberman and the WordPress Discover team team hosted Discover Prompts.

My daily response involved an impromptu poem and a photo made (with one exception) in Accra where I am ‘locked down’  accompanied by an occasional quote or snatched lyric from a song.

You can read all my poems here.

Stay safe and well and let’s fight this thing together, and make sure we don’t forget the lessons we learn when we reach the other side.

now I been out in the desert, just doin’ my time
searchin’ through the dust, lookin’ for a sign

– lyrics from further on (up the road), bruce springsteen

lockdown | discover | thirty | grateful

Image | | andy townend 
i
have 
   my
    path
       to 
        follow
             my 
              home
                 i 
                 carry 
                     on 
                      my 
                       back
                          i  
                          may 
                            be 
                             slow
                                but 
                                  my 
                                   path 
                                      is 
                                       clear
                                           i 
                                           may 
                                             face 
                                                obstacles
                                                        but 
                                                          they 
                                                             slide 
                                                                 beneath 
                                                                       me
                                                                        i 
                                                                        may 
                                                                          not 
                                                                            see 
                                                                              what 
                                                                                 you 
                                                                                   see
                                                                                     but
                                                                                       i 
                                                                                       feel
                                                                                          it
                                                                                           all

*image made with iPhone 11 Pro 4.25mm f/1.8 lens, reasons to be cheerful, accra, ghana*

My final contribution to the WordPress community initiative for the lockdown period in April 2020 – Discover Prompts Day Thirty: Grateful.

Thanks to Ben Huberman and the WordPress Discover team for stepping up to the plate and lending us all their support and encouragement.

Stay safe and well and let’s fight this thing together, and make sure we don’t forget the lessons we learn when we reach the other side.

the juice of a carrot, the smile of a parrot
little drop of claret, anything that rocks

– lyrics from reasons to be cheerful pt.3, ian dury and the blockheads

lockdown | discover | twentynine | list

Image | | andy townend 
let's make a list

of all that we can't do
           no longer do
             long to do

let's make a list
 
    of what we might do
         one (fine) day
        if we are still
                       allowed
                              to

*image made with iPhone 11 Pro 4.25mm f/1.8 lens, are you (list)ening, accra, ghana*

For the WordPress community’s latest initiative Discover Prompts Day Twenty Nine: List. Thanks to Ben Huberman, and the WordPress Discover team for stepping up to the plate.

Stay safe and well and let’s fight this thing together, and make sure we don’t forget the lessons we learn when we reach the other side.

well my soul checked out missing as I sat (list)ening
to the hours and minutes tickin’ away

lyrics from better days, bruce springsteen

lockdown | discover | twentyeight | focus

Image | | andy townend

they came in the night

when we were not looking

when we ticked the box to the t&cs

when we looked the other way

when we ticked the box to the t&cs

when we were having so much fun

when we ticked the box to the t&cs

and then

when our focus was elsewhere

their plan was complete

when we ticked the box to the t&cs

they took it all

away

 

*image made with iPhone 11 Pro 4.25mm f/1.8 lens, the are theirs, accra, ghana*

For the WordPress community’s latest initiative Discover Prompts Day Twenty Eight: Focus. Thanks to Ben Huberman, and the WordPress Discover team for stepping up to the plate.

Stay safe and well and let’s fight this thing together, and make sure we don’t forget the lessons we learn when we reach the other side.

(They) are virtual.

we got a file on you

lyrics from blur

lockdown | discover | twentyseven | team

Image | | andy townend

like these three
we will

survive

whatever the weather
wherever the stream takes

us

if we run the
rapids
as
a

team

*image made with iPhone 11 Pro 4.25mm f/1.8 lens, going with the flow, accra, ghana*

For the WordPress community’s latest initiative Discover Prompts Day Twenty Seven: Team. Thanks to Ben Huberman, and the WordPress Discover team for stepping up to the plate.

Stay safe and well and let’s fight this thing together, and make sure we don’t forget the lessons we learn when we reach the other side.

Find me.

listen to me now
i need to let you know
you don’t have to go it alone

– lyrics from you can’t make it on your own, u2

lockdown | discover | twentysix | hidden

Image | | andy townend 
hidden
           
           behind walls
           (electrified) fences

           behind words
           (electrified) tensions

           behind facades
           (i've created)

           behind excuses
           (forged) 
           from
           fear

           it’s time
           no 
           longer
           to (remain)

                               hidden

*image made with iPhone 11 Pro 4.25mm f/1.8 lens, electrified, accra, ghana*

For the WordPress community’s latest initiative Discover Prompts Day Twenty Six: Hidden. Thanks to Ben Huberman, and the WordPress Discover team for stepping up to the plate.

Stay safe and well and let’s fight this thing together, and make sure we don’t forget the lessons we learn when we reach the other side.

Find me.

’cause I’ll be you and you’ll be me
there’s lots and lots for us to see

– lyrics from, she’s electric, oasis