An-image-a-day
*OOF = Out Of Focus
05/03/26: The area where this image was taken may feature in these pages from time to time, on account of it being a key waypoint in my daily journey to and work. I pass this way on foot up to four times in a day, either before or after taking a bus depending on the direction of travel. (workward or homeward)
[Aside: I say ‘journey’ rather than ‘commute’ as the total amount of travel involved is a mere 20-30 minutes elapsed time and 1.2 miles distance. It comprises public transport (bus) and walking, or just walking. That is a stroll or meander, not real commuting, which I did years of earlier in life and was/is a horrific and soul-destroying experience.]
The reason for this photo is that it shows a local war memorial in close proximity to a flagpole which bears the national flag. At time of writing, Trump – the insane, mendacious grifter of a pound-shop Tony Soprano – who occupies the presidency of the United States, is making war against Iran. It strikes me that this places much of the world in a highly precarious position for no clear reason other than he and the white Christian Nationalist f*scists around him desire regime change in the region as expedient to their imperialistic urges. Oh, and to steal crude oil at any opportunity. Flags and war memorials generally signify only one thing: the death of the unwilling while serving the interests of those who will be unaffected by the action. (Unless we are all blown-up, of course. Such a possibility has been absent or at least minimal for decades – now Trump has revived the whole M.A.D. scenario again.
He has to be stopped, before we in the United Kingdom need the war memorial all over again.
04/03/2026: This is the downstairs front window of a house close to where I live. Up until recently the entire front of the building, both ground floor and first floor; were covered with a thick layer of ivy. This must have been growing for many years to have been so extensive. Then one day about a week ago the walls were clear of growth, and someone I know who lives next door to the house told me the place had been sold, and would be renovated.
Look closely and you notice that some creepers remain… inside the windows. This was true for all the windows, both downstairs and upstairs. As far as I know the house was occupied until sold. I can’t imagine what the climate was like inside for that vegetation to flourish, and – I’m guessing – there could have been some ‘wildlife’ living in there too… <shudder>
03/03/26: For this picture I am tempted to simply say “if you know, you know”. However, I am aware not everyone enjoys the use of this phrase. Let’s just say it is the calling-card, as it were, of a certain member’s group which exists on a certain social media platform. It can be a very entertaining distraction and I have sporadically contributed to it over a couple of years, to some acclaim.
02/03/26: Today was wonderfully sunny all day; one could believe spring was on it’s way. <gasp> These daffodils had not opened a day ago – which was a shame as yesterday was St. David’s Day – but now they are, and proudly upright to boot. Pleasing.
01/03/26: How is it March? January appeared to contain far more days than the reality, and I just realised I have been posting for two months now. Mostly enjoyably and I have arrived at what could loosely be termed a workflow. However: on a small number of days, staying motivated for the cause has been a challenge due to the awful weather and lack of natural light. Here in Britain we will move from Greenwich Mean Time – known to meteorologists and armed forces worldwide as Coordinated Universal Time – to British Summer Time, at 1:00 a.m. on the 29th of March. (What we call BST, other parts of the world refer-to as Daylight Saving.) Most people here will put their clocks forward before turning-in for the night on Saturday the 28th. After this the days will have lighter mornings, but with the caveat of losing the daylight earlier in the evening – until the Vernal Equinox on the 20th of March, when we will be properly in Spring. At some point during the evening of the 28th I will doubtless alter my watch, the bathroom, lounge mantel and kitchen clocks; but I draw the line at the car. Life is too short for that absurd ritual and it will be correct again at the end of October anyway.
[Aside: Equinoxes For Beginners… Yesterday I mentioned Meteorological Spring, which begins today and is based upon annual temperature cycles and the Gregorian calendar. Astronomical Spring begins on or about the 20th of March – the Vernal Equinox – when the sun crosses the equator moving from south to north and there are more-or-less equal amounts of day and night. The word ‘equinox’ comes from the Latin aequinoctium; aequa meaning equal and nox meaning night. The reason for all this malarkey is that leap years (and the altered shape of that year’s orbit around the sun) affect when the astronomical seasons (equinoxes) actually occur. The meteorological seasons were created because traditional seasons varied in length from 89 to 93 days and it was difficult to compare statistics from one year to another. Here’s a fun fact: in the last leap year, 2024; astronomical spring started in the U.K. on Wednesday the 20th of March at 03:07 a.m. GMT; the earliest in March that the equinox has occurred since 1896. If anyone really wants their mind blown, the leap years to come (2028, 2032 etc.) will all have a brand new record ‘earliest spring’. The slippage will continue happening throughout 2100, 2200, and 2300; until the next reset occurs in the year 2400. Important: I do not propose going deeply into what the ‘slippage’ and ‘reset in 2400’ are. I know what they mean but I for one won’t much care about any of it by then.]
Back to the here and now: while out walking late this afternoon I passed a car rental place. This business is closed on Sundays, yet there was an open garage door to the side; revealing an interior which I would not expect to be so brightly-lit for a place which was closed. I thought this odd but didn’t loiter once I’d grabbed this image. You can never know who’s about.
28/02/26: This is the bird-table in my garden. It stands under a large olive tree and attracts many species of British garden birds. The tiny lights wrapped around the stand are solar-powered and only light up when the ambient light level drops to that of dusk. And what of it, you ask? Well, this image was taken today at about 6:10pm; meaning the daylight is now visibly lasting longer by a couple of minutes each day. (see the sky – a week ago it was pitch dark by this time) Meteorological Spring begins tomorrow; how long might it be before we’re saying it’s Spring before the end of February?
27/02/26: With only a small amount of direct solar radiation reaching us yet this year, blossom trees locally are now beginning to flower and are beautiful. They make a stark, almost defiant contrast to the featureless grey which has characterized the weather thus far in 2026.
26/02/26: More churchyard action. (as it were) A church in my town is very old, first documented in 1136. Some parts of the building, constructed in the 1200’s, remain to this day. The building is ‘Grade II listed’ by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (England and Wales); a classification awarded to “particularly important buildings of more than special interest.” This particular memorial in the grounds – a Celtic cross – has been significantly weathered by time and the elements. I found no readable inscriptions upon it. Seeing as I was hurrying somewhere via the churchyard, and a distinct threat of rain was present; I only stayed just long enough to grab a picture. I might research the cross further sometime, should I learn more I will update this account.
25/02/26: An extraordinary event occurred today. Two, actually. The first: it did not rain at any point. (over North London, anyway) The second? Not only did the sun appear, (and proceeded to remain available essentially all day) but the right kind of wispy clouds complimented the scene on and off. As a result, the demeanour of everyone I encountered today was palpably lifted. [Aside: this can, of course, be a mixed blessing, but I am able to suppress my innate antisocial tendency at times.] So: what with a welcome upturn in the weather, I ended-up too busy during the day to go looking for pictures. Obviously.
BUT: the evening sky, after such a relatively beautiful late-February day; was fantastic. I dashed out to the garden as the sun was clearing-off, and was rewarded. The view above presented a waxing gibbous moon, emerging stars, and this criss-crossed patchwork of aircraft vapour-trails in the twilight. After months of featureless overcast it was like food to someone who is starving. As for the camera, its’ metering still confuses me at times but I’m sticking with it. And perhaps slowly coming to quite like it. More on this in future, I think.
