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An Eternal Journey

July 3, 2020 by Simon Robinson 1 Comment

‘Days and months are itinerants on an eternal journey; the years that pass by are also travellers’. – Matuso Bashō (1644-94)

I noted this quotation a few years ago; a dozen in fact. Reading it last night triggered thoughts that spawned a few more. I wish you good luck on this eternal journey.

It’s amazing to me that so many people on different continents came to live in caves carved from volcanic tuff. The Puebloans or Anasazi in New Mexico, Etruscans in Italy, and the Cappadocians in Turkey spring to mind. Each realised, independently, that tuff was relatively easy to carve into negative moulds for habitation. Conversely, the Rapa Nui on Easter Islander chose to cut positive shapes from similar material.Presumably their moai have religious purpose. While time may travel, coeval independent solutions seem to occur quite frequently.

Architects check sun-dial pocket-watch time at Hardwick Hall
(Photo by John L Robinson ARHA 1888 held in RSAI)

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Sours & Jobs

July 1, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

The Midori Sours with beer chasers appeared to go down well. Rounded up to £20 with a healthy tip, the barman was encouraged to keep a close eye on the celebrity drinking. His attentiveness barely interrupted his telling of how he lost his last hotel job by crashing and writing off a brand new sports car.

‘I mean written off’ he said ‘not even ten miles on the clock’.

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Protected Views

June 18, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

You may already know of the efforts of urban planners to preserve the view of specific places or historic buildings in some cities around the world. These protected views or vistas can have binding legal status for enforcement purposes. You also may be aware that there are thirteen such vistas in London protected by the London View Management Framework.

Two visits to see St Paul’s Cathedral from King Henry VIII’s Mound in Richmond Park (16 km)

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Capital Dot Day

May 16, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

I made some cryptic notes last November 29th when we were still living in London. I found them again this morning in a notebook subsumed during our relocation.

I had recently read Harry Mathews’ 20 Lines and was thinking about diaries at the time. I had been looking for patterns among my daily experiences that I could or should write about. I was also busy trying to build a commercial outlet for my photography, something I could continue when we moved to Dublin.

Garden: Far and Near at 600 mm © Simon Robinson 2020

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Capital Ring

March 17, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

17 Mar 2020 – 9:42 GMT – 10°C Mostly Cloudy – Co. Dublin, Ireland

This month last year I was walking the Capital Ring around London. I made seven it in outings over two weeks. Walked clockwise, starting in Woolwich, averaging about 20 km each time. It helped that we were based in SW1 at the time and each walk could be accessed by a radial journey on public transport, age and residence making it free to me after morning rush hour.

Snippets from WhatsApp with the family, posts made by covenant to confirm that I’m upright when walking alone; a protocol following an incident on a mountain last year that left me with pins in my hand.

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