Past is Future, the wheel of time

Saturday, a bursting hot day,
hardly a whisper of cloud around, enough to notice the skies not completely blue in places,
blue still blue.

Late into the evening, late dinner awaiting the arrival of family and friends, the instant urge to be out amongst fields, crops two foot high already, the late sunshine, a light breeze and enough to stir the hayfever,
ah-chu.

No need for boots, just put some footwear on that grips the bumpy ground along the footpath.

It's all good, two friends walking their dogs, no care or worry it's a beautiful evening.

Up over the hill and into a chalk grassland site, rare for the area now (the sign says), farmers taking over the land from once it was. The rabbits burrowing in, the coppiced stumps unchanged in a month, the hedgerows trimmed.

The blue skies seen from all around across the hills, everything is green, the hedgerows blossom whitening, one harvested field alone, golden brown, reflecting the remaining sunshine on the opposite hillside.

The sheep will always be on the site nearby, generations of sheep gone by and coming.
People will come and go, time will continue on as blue skies come and go.
(But the sheep will remain the same.)

One day history will tell our story, pictures of our past,
your childhood brushing past with each step along the footpath and around the site,
a knowing you'll be with those people already gone after months and years.

A welling up of those lost after only weeks or minutes of knowing:
a secret knowledge on the doorstep between two strangers,
a twinkle, a smile...a look, infectious,
no more.

*

Memories running in the parks at age five, with parents screaming back to be careful,
all abliss to the warmth in the day, the trees to hide behind,
friends, brothers and sisters to squeeze, chase,
the sand for castles from earlier gradually dissolving under waves at the beach,
the moat around the parents on the beach towel filling up,
trying to make the day last longer.

*

The sunshine dropping and making one last punch of brightness into the sky, bright but cool,
increasing shades for the day to close on, take the route home down the hillside
where hundreds have trodden before,
where the train line once went,
where the married couples once walked,
where the horses once pulled carriages,
now just a path, girls and boys used to giggle and play hide and seek,
where it all remains still and silent...

the hedgeline trimmed by you after years of knowing it,
the hedgeline as much a friend as anyone else,
trees standing on,
(every inch known of them by your childhood and now grown skills,
they knowing every inch of the land around here,)
to out live you and your children,

summer sunshine to give warmth and happiness,
sunshine of the past, sunshine for now,
sunshine...in view, for miles around across the fields,
to continue the journey,
and a question of where that twinkle, that smile is now,
to complete the future
to grow a new hedgeline with you for next time,
with the trees holding the keys to the past, looking on,
awaiting the next set of kids games, giggles, memories and regrown hedgerows.

On down the hill back in to the quietened village,
scented smells of cooking food,
no one around, just abandoned,
stillness in the air,
emptiness from within and from without, comforting,
the blue sky dissolving with the heat for the return to the present,
the childhood living on in the shadows,
no one to hold on to, but a star somewhere up in the air,
awaiting the future,
never to hold with you.

Codex: The King of Limbs, Radiohead

The Empire of Climate

The Empire of Climate: How the climate affects us. The physical and psychological changes to the human race by the weather.

Eminent geographer Professor David Livingstone wants us to see that climate is more than just the weather outside our window - it's an empire that has shaped our lives throughout history .

I'm continuing on the theme of how we used to live in the past. For anyone living in the UK or ROI may find an awkward connection to both now there is snow 3ft high across much of the country.

Global warming, Climate change, Enhanced Climate Change, Natural Quaternary Process, whatever you want to call it. Surely, we are seeing an affect of human industrialisation. Although you could argue this is a repeat of the volcanic issues of 1782/83 too, which left Europe without warmth and reduced harvests. We did have that Icelandic Volcano erupt earlier in the year, the fall out maybe more prolonged than first thought, who knows.

We spend a lot of time looking at the weather, but looking is not seeing, hearing is not listening. We should be nicer to our home, it won't last forever.

--
P.s. For updates, it should be noted that the climate is having extreme shifts between the seasons. Therefore because it has been warmer than normal, we are due to get colder than normal. Just one of the many theories.
Debatable questions: Due to the Artic melting and Canadian Ice Sheet melting, from excess heat. Now the cooling begins as the ocean currents slow down with fresh water inputs from these sources and therefore removing our Gulf Stream warmth, leaving us very much colder.

With a lot less of the Artic ice cube existing does this mean that Northern Europe will have the cold weather move in more frequently as Artic 'land' doesn't take the sting out of the weather for us? Is this an anomaly or a long term effect? Discuss.

It might be Bonfire Night, but what time is it. The Sun, Moon and life eternal.

Stonehenge Winter

With thanks to Madison Reece for her blog entry "Something Special", which set this ball rolling.

It might be Bonfire Night, but what time is it. The Sun, Moon and life eternal.
"Though we are many we are one body", says the Holy Communion for Christian faith, but whilst I may have been going on my themes of magical rights and folklore due to Halloween. It got me also thinking about the Neolithic culture, the Stonehenge world, where people didn't have God as we know today, but the planets and the sun was God to them.

On the 21st December, the Winter Solstice, Pagans and admirers of this past culture gather in wait to see the sun rise.
The Neolithic's are thought to be no body's, something where humans didn't have any control and was a form of prehistoric dark ages, alas so little is known about them and there time, history portrays very little factual evidence. Still with what we think we know, a mass of people every year walked to the stonehenges and Passage Tombs to see the sun rise directly up and over until the central stone was lit. These features, built over years in life time amounts (20 years), suggest they were actually very intelligent people.

Knowth Ireland
Stonehenge UK

The potential out there for something as big as God may well exist, but scientific evidence attempts to defy the odds. Will we ever know? Ants are tiny compared to the earth, but really us humans in relation to the universe, indeed our Galaxy is small. A good concept of this feeling I found, was the Men In Black film endings, particularly the first one. Our Universe is just inside a marble.

I always wanted to know what was making the world go round. How comes it all exists? But such big thoughts makes for bad headaches and questions over life, what happens when we die etc. So many of us happy with believing in a God can be happy, but what makes people happy if they have God?

I have a good tendency to forget, I don't want to know in many ways because its scary, unless a whole hearted solution can be found. So maybe after all that our human instincts to enjoy fire and watch the sun rise in its mighty power is a good thing.
Our 80 odd years is just a dwindle in the suns 10billion, and that's before it goes Supernova. Questions behind time and space, the after life can be dulled down for a little while longer. Lets enjoy our time here. We all like to watch a healthy fire, something that connects us to our bushcraft, our more natural way of life, away from these modern times.

Music for thought:
Sting Featuring Eric Clapton: It's Probably Me
The Korgis: Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime
Karl Jenkins, Requiem: In These Stones Horizons Sing

The Last Stand?

The Last Stand for our trees: The Decline of the English Elm Tree
Here you can read on the current fight of the Dutch Elm's Disease by Mark Seddon (BBC). Full news publishing will occur on the 24th August 2010.
You can also read and listen to Carol Ann Duffy reading her poem: The English Elm.

Some details are also available by the Daily Telegraph, whilst The Independent talks of schools helping reduce the issue.

Picture from The Independent Newspaper

Wildly Insane: wilderness and man

I've been listening to an old radio program about Gavin Maxwell and his life. Many of you will know he wrote the book Ring of Bright Water and not so many of you will realise what a socially secluded life he really did lead. Radio 4's In the Ring of Bright Water presented by Terry Nutkins.

I only new the name of Gavin Maxwell, I was actually more interested in Terry Nutkins, I recall him from different Wildlife Programs and activities in the 1990s. I hadn't a clue about the way these two completely different -and yet similar people in certain ways on reflection- lived. It's to do with the lifestyle they tried to have. Set in the furthest reaches, bleakness and open landscape that Britain can hold cut off on an island and only surrounded by animals.

Its said that Gavin Maxwell suffered in his youth and never truly stopped being a child in many ways and so enjoyed the solitude. Then there is Terry Nutkins who finally after living with Gavin in his childhood decided the area was so beautiful and reminded him of the past he went back to live at another property on the Island. Only a curse is said to have been put on Gavin Maxwell for the suffering of Kathleen Maxwell had, 'causing' his death.

Sobering most certainly, but as environmentally interested as we all are, is there a boundary we should keep? I get the impression that living in complete wilderness will send you mad. That's 'mad' in the terminology of the 19th Century, when no one understood psychological illness. Harken back to the days, are we as environmentally interested people to be doomed if we close the doors to the rest of human society? It seems there is a certain trait which exists in some environmentally interested people. Yet, doctors used to say things like he needs to have a break from life, for mental breakdowns I recommend spending sometime in the country or to that effect.

Now with so much development in mental health can these issues carry on happening, is the environment a cause or effect of madness. For those of us who like the outdoors are we doomed to some form of insanity or is it the effect of being out there so much. Come 2050-2060 when dementia has risen I wonder what life will be like.

Fieldwork on Photo

June has become one of the busiest months of the year. Fieldwork on each weekend has lead to more research in the week. It's only going to get busier. However, amongst the needs of collecting water samples for my 'Hydrological Pollution in the Peak District' dissertation and running lab tests for nutrients and metals, I did manage to get some good photos on the classic upland landscape. Unfortunately, there on a roll of 35mm film still, so for now, I will have to make do with the digital ones I have from the actual fieldwork collection and not my attempt to photograph the impossible landscape as the sun laid in to the hills from behind me mid morning. Looking at these I hope the manual setting on the manual aren't nearly as over exposed as these.

Upper North Grain, River Sett and Bretton Clough are all interesting in there own way. Upper North Grain is quite bleak. Open moorland sits on top of the hillside, the peat drains the landscape and pollution rains frequently from the surrounding cities of Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford.

Upper North Grain back out to the A57 (Snake Pass)
River Sett on the other hand is way more beautiful, slightly touristy for the campers but none the less couldn't look better if it tried at the moment. The ultimate photo however would require dangling precariously from a tree with the camera attached to a pole to photo a river coming down a hill in a gull, sided by small shrubs and unfortunately in the 100m length drops about 5 metres, how I will get it I don't know yet, attempts so far have failed. (In case my supervisor finds me, I did not break H&S I promise.)

River Sett

Bretton Clough is typically farmland surrounded by plantations and sits deep in a valley. It's just a bit too much like farmland. Also the sheep and horses are way too interested in my field bag. Being accosted by them was never really my intention. The sky was a lot more blue, however, it was really bright and hard to get the camera settings set, oh well.

Bretton CloughIf only that fern was at ankle height. That stuffs 2ft high in most places and grown beyond anything I expected in a week. These almost make the North Downs not look as good, but then again the Surrey hillside cannot be beaten.

Time after Time

Saint John's Point County Down.

They say photos express a 1000 words. Well I never intend to write a 1000 words, but I can merrily knock a 1000 words out in an email if needed.

Back to the subject from months back of what photos mean to people. Is it a psychology answer I'm really after, no. But if you can find what the photo is describing and explaining to you, then you can begin to question why its showing you that.

Books full of long and short stories, poems, quotes, pundit lines and food for thought always detail and make you bring a new feeling to reality. Here I ask again for you to look at this photo and see what its saying.

I also have one other thought for everyone. Not everything I say and do is plain straight up. So as always like an East Egg hunt, I expect you to find your own clues and your own thoughts. After all my "Sweet Harmony" and "Gargoyles" photo I have uploaded from the internet now show multiple meanings not just the intentional thought.

This wet road roles up the hill, moisture freezes between the rocks and clouds show the threats of storms as if peace was needed across the shores. As bright as the sunshine the lighthouse provides a way across, alas the sea churns and many a ship has been set down on these shores. Down comes the strikes of lightning, so close no rumble is ever heard. The rocks will show no mercy and yet there is still time to turn against the tide and go hard back out to sea. There is little chance of any escape but Neptune* will once again rule unduly upon this land. This land has fort time after time, you may take me and break me, but you'll never take this land.

*Neptune is the Roman God of the sea.

Photography

They say a photo is worth a thousand words. Last week I heard of a competition being run in my department. This was to photograph our time on our degree course for one category, the other to photograph our time in the city, views of the city and wider university.

Neither of these are easy, lots of design and planning may have to go in to this. I did not intend on entering this competition. However, it has set my mind churning, churning to find a photo which represents my subject and its wider context. This could not be entered in to the competition, but if I had to create a photo of Environmental monitoring, modelling and reconstruction or Geography what would the photo be.

When I did my undergraduate course I was in Canterbury, Kent. In this time I went on many a walk with Sam (friend and housemate). These two photos have him in them. I happened to look through my collection and came upon this photo and have made some simple edits. These photos sum up geography in many respects.

In the first instance, the colour one. It was not designed to look aged, but due to the light balance and October morning mist across the farmland, grassland, barracks area. It appears to be 1960s a bit. This photo shows a man not just looking, studying his surroundings, binoculars at the ready. Prepared for bird watching and spotting any form of wildlife that we may pass. He stares to the left wondering what is down the way. The rural idyll that geographers talk of so much and prescribes the general public's want for a perfect countryside is seen here.



Agriculture in the foreground, woodland in the background. He stands studying the complexities of the local geomorphological processes, the conservation issues and weather at the site. Standing completely still he awaits the natural habitat to open up for him on this cold and misty morning.




In the second version. I have made it black and white and adjusted the balance. Its purposely aged. I tried to get a 1930s-1940s feel, but without giving it a yellow staining for real this looks slightly new. The sharp black of the scarf around the neck, with the foreground sharpened; the background still in tact but making you wonder what's going on it still hides the big secret behind the mist. The field disintegrates before reaching the tree line at ground level and yet we know there is a woodland out there.