Microcosmic

There’s a body of research pointing to gratitude being a key to well being. When feeling down, for whatever reason – things not going well, the state of the world – being thankful is almost like rebooting the mind. No matter what any given moment is like there are fundamental things about existence that are… miraculous. I HAVE A BODY To be aware of the body – to feel it, gravity acting on it, bodily sensations - is a good way to start this kind of reflection. It’s grounding and always accessible. What’s more Joni Mitchel was right – we are Stardust! Everything that makes up our bodies was forged in the belly of stars. All these atoms are traceable to stars that manufactured them in their cores and exploded them across the galaxy, billions of years ago. I love to remind myself of this - my favourite fact about the universe! I AM CONSCIOUS As far as we know the human brain is the most complicated structure in the universe. Despite advances in artificial intelligence we are nowhere n...

Summer Solstice Sunrise looking out towards Winter Hill and the Pennine foothills it's going to be a long day :)  a summer solstice barn owl

half moon high tide washes up a morning, message in a bottle heron

let go of holding on fly let go of flying fall let go of falling be  let go even of being then let go of  letting go ------------------------------------------------------------ a box of letting go I bought a box of letting go from a pet shop in Greece horizon-eyed goldfinch inside scooped off a sky, stuffed into cardboard took it to the town's edge a suspicion of locals watched opened the lid, then jack-in-a-box that kept on going as cloudward rocket hallelujahs in its wake, bicyle bell expletives me down there holding on with a box I paid good money for just to watch it let go

The Spiral of Honesty Yesterday was the first sunny day with a sunrise since I made the Spiral of Honesty last Friday (seedpods of Honesty stuck onto a framed glass sheet). So I took it onto the patch to take a photo with the sunrise behind it. I probably looked highly eccentric walking down the road and across fields in the dark - large, framed, square thing inexplicably tucked under my arm. Luckily I had an entirely plausible - not at all odd - response ready if I bumped into anyone. "Don't worry Sir / Madam / officer of the law (delete where applicable) I am merely taking the Spiral of Honesty to a place where I can point it at the sun to see if it's telling the truth"  

Aborlith Abor (tree) + lith (as in megalith - stone) A tree like a standing stone such as this ash tree on the patch. In April when I stand by the lake the morning sun climbs up the side the trunk, then for a moment seems to be embraced in its lower boughs. Perhaps this is how standing stones were first sited by our ancestors - they noticed a certain tree / solar alignment which developed meaning for them and so made this more permanent with a stone in the same position. A couple of years ago I compiled an A-Z of the Patch using existing regional or specialised words and focussing on the patch ( Word Magic ). This is a follow up in which I've come up with an A-Z of my own coinages and this is part one - A to M. I think for anyone who pays close attention to single area - a patch watcher - it's fairly normal to invent their own names for certain corners of their plot that stand out. I have 'Stonechat Fence' and 'Wheatear Ridge'. The...

"the  asymmetrical, nonrepetitive, and unregimented order  which we find in the patterns of moving water, the forms of trees and clouds, of frost crystals on the window, or the scattering of pebbles on beach sand.”  Alan Watts The Chinese word - 'Li' refers to the patterns in nature that are continually forming and re-forming around us. fixed patterns dynamic patterns patterns within patterns patterns in time patterns in space patterns that we create in our own minds through our unique perceptions of these patterns The li can be seen as the ever-changing, ever-present set of patterns which flow through everything in nature.  And they flow through our perceptions of the world. There are several ways of categorising the kinds of patterns found in nature These are the 24 from the book 'Li: Dynamic Form in Nature' by David Wade (link below) with examples from things I've photographed Aggregation – collocation of elements (fungus spore print) Anfractuous – winding ...

This morning I looked out of window debating whether to go for my walk on the patch or stay in bed a bit longer. ‘Nah’ I thought, I don’t fancy it. Last week’s crisp, bright winter wonderland had given way to that unholy quintet of gloom - wind, mud, rain, grey and cold. But what perversely swayed me to step outside was the fact that it wasn’t just horrible it was spectacularly horrible, comically horrible, perfectly horrible. The word ‘perfectly’ to describe a bad thing is usually used for emphasis - ‘horrible indeed’. But what if it literally is *perfect* in its horribleness. perfect wind perfect mud perfect rain perfect grey perfect cold No less a morning than a bright snowy one, a birdsong-filled spring one, a lazy hot summer one. The morning, the day, the weather – they just get on with things being themselves – oblivious to our labels, our likes and dislikes. This reminded me of the story I’d heard about the writer Henry David Thoreau - author of Walden. He died of tuberculosis ...

  There are a lot of really excellent bird photos on the internet. I've got to say though - it's been done to death. People are getting bored with them now and are clamouring for photos of where birds WERE, not where they ARE. So here's a photograph of where a Yellowhammer (Emberiza non-citrinella) was before it flew off. I'm rather proud of the total lack of bird, no feathers whatsoever in detail - glorious or otherwise. I feel I've captured the very essence of its absence. Its 'gone-ness' if you like. A lack is so profound it seems to infuse everything around it with total not-thereness. (if you're unable to make out where it isn't - it's not on the post in the middle) Bird photographers ask yourselves, do you really want to be part of the problem - or are you going to be part of the solution? #wherebirdswere

The world, the universe, is full to the brim with wonders. The most amazing of all, to my mind, is one that everyone has access to every morning as soon as they wake up - consciousness. It's a puzzle that continues to baffle science. How does matter come together in such a way that suddenly the 'lights are on'. How does the collection of atoms in our brains become aware - so that it's 'like something' to be us. And just what *is* a sensation? Take the sensations of hearing a bird singing. The physics and biology of the process are well known. The bird uses energy - originally from the sun - to move the muscles in its vocal organ - this in turn moves air molecules. Some of these enter our ear, vibrating the eardrum and causing nerve impulses to be sent to the brain where they are interpreted - sensed as bird song *Sensed as bird song* - this final part is where the "miracle" happens. Just what is the birdsongness of bird song, the gree...

From the inside birch, hazel, beech, cherry, hornbeam, sycamore Beech leaves. The outer and inner rings the are upper sides of leaves - a beautiful warm brown. The middle ring is the coffee coloured undersides Elder Birch leaves   A trudge becomes a treasure hunt One of my favourite things is to be doing something - it happens most of when walking on the patch - feeling uninspired, maybe bored - then completely turning it around. ...a thoroughly dull and grey, uninspiring October morning with little of interest. Then I noticed something new - the wonderful way leaves were turning autumnal. The fantastic patterns and combinations of colours were unique to each. Suddenly this beauty was all around. I started looking for the best ones. A weary trudge had become a treasure hunt, I had a autumnal spring in my step. This isn't hidden beauty in the way maybe some inaccessible wonder deep in a cave is hidden - it was there all along. It's only hidden unti...