Walking Commentary
Thoughts and cycling from Manchester to Rome in 2023
The auctioneer was known for his malapropisms. He was the kind of man who might aspire to own a tantrum bicycle. Or announce that Rome wasn’t burned in a day. At the auction of the restaurant my parents were selling, the auctioneer tried to add value by including the view in the sale. He said there were magnificent sea views for ‘as far as the eye could see’. Eyes rolled, then checked the view before acknowledging he was correct. He had viewed the price and repriced the view.
It’s been cloudy in the evenings this week even when it hasn’t been raining. So I never saw the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn last Monday. Tonight, the weather was very different. A beautiful evening, though cold, and a slightly hazy sunset. The re-appearance of Mars above a waxing moon embroidered the pretty skyscape shortly after the 1610 sunset. I set up the camera and spent almost an hour moving and adjusting my tripod, practicing with numb, gloved fingers in the failing light. I chose to take photographs of some of the many people taking selfies while bathed in the golden sunset.
Last evening, I walked the dog the very short distance to the Obelisk on Killiney Hill. It was close to 4.30 when we set out, the sun having set thirty minutes earlier, and I hoped to see the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the western skies.
The day started with a walk. The church spire reflected in a puddle seemed painterly. No longer a church, it is somewhat diminished if described as the maritime museum spire reflected in a puddle. A building in which we have attended civil wedding ceremonies that are enriched by the maritime icons that symbolise journeys of hope in this life rather than what many see as the cruel and debasing imagery of the supplanted Christian ethos.
[Read more…] about Sea and LightI will be very disappointed tonight. I already see that the Harvest Moon will not be visible at moonrise from South County Dublin at 1930 local time. The skies have clouded over and that’s it for this moon. It will rain instead.
We four went to a local park earlier today for a three-generational distance-separated walk. It was a balmy July day, neither warm nor cold but it was dry. It’s a place I know well as the start of the long distance trail called the Wicklow Way. The Wicklow Way is a self-guided walk from Rathfarnham in Dublin to Clonegal in Carlow some 27 kilometres long. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve walked south from this spot and indeed, I can’t recall the number of times I’ve ended my treks here. Perhaps the sum of starts and finishes is 24.
It’s a place Mom and the two kids know well because of the fields, the playground and the great recreational opportunities the huge open spaces provide. Trees, lakes and rivers are a bonus for these young explorers who were moving rocks to dam a stream within minutes of arrival.
