Earth is spinning,
Planetary orbit,
Around the sun.
A fiery star.
Protector.
Holding life in it's solar clutches.
A dot in a spiralling,
Twisting,
Turning,
Galaxy.
Bound by physical forces,
Life's precarious balance,
Hanging in a vacuum.
Matter;
Dark;
White;
Unexplained as yet.
Look up;
Look outside the bubble.
There is more to life than a flat plane.
There are planets, stars, colliding galaxies;
And a mass of light beneath the black.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
A Nice View
I bought my flat on the basis of a nice view and amazing wooden floors. The front room is south facing and when the sun shines it lights up the whole room for the entire day. It is quite uplifting.
My flat is perfectly positioned at the highest point on an upward climbing, westward-running road. The New River is visible from my front window. I love the shiny ripples on the water and the wildlife that ebbs and flows over the course of day and through the seasons.
A Nice View
The waters shimmer,
Little ripples turn over,
Shadows cast,
Lightness and dark.
A fox slips between the railings in pursuit of food.
Three ducks dabble; quacking with pleasure.
A heron stock still, about to strike.
Fish tails that catch the light.
A mute swan passing through, heading due south.
A tiny froglet with leopard-print skin radiating heat.
Grasses bending in the breeze and overhanging trees.
A river, of sorts, in name only;
Man-made but now filled with natural, living things.
A nice view,
captured from my window.
My flat is perfectly positioned at the highest point on an upward climbing, westward-running road. The New River is visible from my front window. I love the shiny ripples on the water and the wildlife that ebbs and flows over the course of day and through the seasons.
A Nice View
The waters shimmer,
Little ripples turn over,
Shadows cast,
Lightness and dark.
A fox slips between the railings in pursuit of food.
Three ducks dabble; quacking with pleasure.
A heron stock still, about to strike.
Fish tails that catch the light.
A mute swan passing through, heading due south.
A tiny froglet with leopard-print skin radiating heat.
Grasses bending in the breeze and overhanging trees.
A river, of sorts, in name only;
Man-made but now filled with natural, living things.
A nice view,
captured from my window.
Saturday, 13 February 2010
February catch-up
I haven't written anything for a few weeks; no walks have occurred, but I haven't been idle. Thought I would randomly set out the things that have been going on.
1) Philosophising - notably reading continental philosophy, Nietzsche and the like. Nietzsche's philosophy that existence is meaningless is hardly a great prospect for life so I looked elsewhere for answers...
2) Black holes, cosmology and the laws of physics - what a revelation. It has been so liberating to realise earth's small role in the universe, the randomness of life, and to theorise on the fate that will one day befall our world - disintegrating suns in c. 5 billion years and/or colliding galaxies. I've been lucky enough to have my own personal physics teacher - I never knew that 3 hours of physics lectures on a Friday night could be so much fun! I've become obsessed with the idea that a black hole will eventually subsume our galaxy and have been trying to share this revelation with colleagues and friends. I sense an unease in others though and a general concern about the nutter in the office!
3) Birds. Bird-watching is such fun and I have neglected it for too long. I spent an entire Sunday bird-watching round Epping Forest and the Lee Valley. Lovely, despite the bone-chilling cold. We saw a nice mix of birds, common and less so. Geek list as follows:
a) Blue tit.
b) Great tit.
c) Greenfinch.
d) Robin.
e) Blackbird.
f) Dunnock.
g) Chaffinch.
h) Crow.
i) Wood pigeon.
j) Collared dove.
l) Long tailed tit (young birds engaged in an acrobatic display).
m) Coot (skating on thin ice).
n) Moorhen.
o) Mandarin duck.
p) Mallard.
q) Tufted duck.
r) Pochard.
s) Great crested grebe.
t) Shoveler.
u) Reed bunting.
v) Lapwing flock.
w) Cormorant.
x) Mute swan.
y) Bewick's swan.
z) Great spotted woodpecker.
Miss of the day: bittern (that is what you get for wandering off at the vital moment; bird watching is a lot about patience).
4) Dynamic Adventure Racing - I signed up for this with 2 friends on New Years Eve. This was quite ironic as we were all blind drunk and started the year with severe alcohol poisoning (including one hospital trip). This combined with a diagnosis of 'mallet finger' (google it for a laugh) did not bode well for February 7th (for interest I got 'mallet finger' back in mid December whilst moving furniture; I thought it would be ok and would heal itself, but the floppiness started to concern me. One trip to A&E later and I was left with a plastic encased finger, locked in a hard casing for 7 weeks - 2 weeks to go).
The race was intense; it's essentially an orienteering event and lasts the whole day. You start off running between checkpoints for 2 hours, followed by an hour break (basically to consume lost calories; the body as a machine) before embarking on the 3 hour mountain bike route. We finished at 6pm following a 1 hour night navigation. I cannot emphasise how much of a buzz this was. Just to complete was amazing (we came 35 out of 60 which I'm quite proud of). I'm in awe of the body's ability to endure and adapt and how the mind can just switch on to survival mode to keep you going.
The race was in the New Forest and surprisingly much of it is actually heathland rather than wooded. It was actually quite special to be running and biking outside, ploughing through mud, fording rivers and becoming acquainted with wild New Forest ponies. The night navigation was quite special; running in head torches as the blackness envelopes you. I will definitely be doing more races.
4) Poetry recitals - it was Burn's night, we had haggis and I recited a few of his poems.
5) Dancing to 80s anthems in one's pants - how much fun??
6) Greyhound racing. Walthamstow Dog's Track which used to my 'local' track was shut down last summer to make way for housing, so I have to make the trip south-west these days to Wimbledon. Money spent on bets: £25, money won £0. Food consumed - steak and mushroom pie (cooked in the cellophane) and chips. A whole lot of fun. The sad part is seeing the retired/injured dogs which can no longer run and are looking for homes. They have a gentle disposition and apparently like to sleep a lot (like most retired athletes I suppose).
1) Philosophising - notably reading continental philosophy, Nietzsche and the like. Nietzsche's philosophy that existence is meaningless is hardly a great prospect for life so I looked elsewhere for answers...
2) Black holes, cosmology and the laws of physics - what a revelation. It has been so liberating to realise earth's small role in the universe, the randomness of life, and to theorise on the fate that will one day befall our world - disintegrating suns in c. 5 billion years and/or colliding galaxies. I've been lucky enough to have my own personal physics teacher - I never knew that 3 hours of physics lectures on a Friday night could be so much fun! I've become obsessed with the idea that a black hole will eventually subsume our galaxy and have been trying to share this revelation with colleagues and friends. I sense an unease in others though and a general concern about the nutter in the office!
3) Birds. Bird-watching is such fun and I have neglected it for too long. I spent an entire Sunday bird-watching round Epping Forest and the Lee Valley. Lovely, despite the bone-chilling cold. We saw a nice mix of birds, common and less so. Geek list as follows:
a) Blue tit.
b) Great tit.
c) Greenfinch.
d) Robin.
e) Blackbird.
f) Dunnock.
g) Chaffinch.
h) Crow.
i) Wood pigeon.
j) Collared dove.
l) Long tailed tit (young birds engaged in an acrobatic display).
m) Coot (skating on thin ice).
n) Moorhen.
o) Mandarin duck.
p) Mallard.
q) Tufted duck.
r) Pochard.
s) Great crested grebe.
t) Shoveler.
u) Reed bunting.
v) Lapwing flock.
w) Cormorant.
x) Mute swan.
y) Bewick's swan.
z) Great spotted woodpecker.
Miss of the day: bittern (that is what you get for wandering off at the vital moment; bird watching is a lot about patience).
4) Dynamic Adventure Racing - I signed up for this with 2 friends on New Years Eve. This was quite ironic as we were all blind drunk and started the year with severe alcohol poisoning (including one hospital trip). This combined with a diagnosis of 'mallet finger' (google it for a laugh) did not bode well for February 7th (for interest I got 'mallet finger' back in mid December whilst moving furniture; I thought it would be ok and would heal itself, but the floppiness started to concern me. One trip to A&E later and I was left with a plastic encased finger, locked in a hard casing for 7 weeks - 2 weeks to go).
The race was intense; it's essentially an orienteering event and lasts the whole day. You start off running between checkpoints for 2 hours, followed by an hour break (basically to consume lost calories; the body as a machine) before embarking on the 3 hour mountain bike route. We finished at 6pm following a 1 hour night navigation. I cannot emphasise how much of a buzz this was. Just to complete was amazing (we came 35 out of 60 which I'm quite proud of). I'm in awe of the body's ability to endure and adapt and how the mind can just switch on to survival mode to keep you going.
The race was in the New Forest and surprisingly much of it is actually heathland rather than wooded. It was actually quite special to be running and biking outside, ploughing through mud, fording rivers and becoming acquainted with wild New Forest ponies. The night navigation was quite special; running in head torches as the blackness envelopes you. I will definitely be doing more races.
4) Poetry recitals - it was Burn's night, we had haggis and I recited a few of his poems.
5) Dancing to 80s anthems in one's pants - how much fun??
6) Greyhound racing. Walthamstow Dog's Track which used to my 'local' track was shut down last summer to make way for housing, so I have to make the trip south-west these days to Wimbledon. Money spent on bets: £25, money won £0. Food consumed - steak and mushroom pie (cooked in the cellophane) and chips. A whole lot of fun. The sad part is seeing the retired/injured dogs which can no longer run and are looking for homes. They have a gentle disposition and apparently like to sleep a lot (like most retired athletes I suppose).
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