Greenside morning, brighter than expected. Sunshine brought out the butterflies. Mostly Painted Ladies with a lot of Speckled Woods. One very battered Small Tortoiseshell.
Near the reservoir a flock of about 50 or so mixed goldfinch & linnets, seemed to be feeding among the seeded rose-bay willow herb and meadowsweet. Most headed for the power lines when we passed. Quite a few common darters.
Read: The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino ★★★★ 📚
The fact is that the whole time my brother had to do with it, outdoor Masonry (as I'll call it, to distinguish it from the kind that later met in closed buildings) had a very rich set of rites, which involved owls, telescopes, pinecones, hydraulic pumps, mushrooms, Cartesian divers, spiders, Pythagorean tables. There was also a certain display of skulls, not only human but also craniums of cows, wolves, and eagles. Such objects and still others, including the spades, squares, and compasses of the regular Masonic liturgy, were found at that time hanging in the branches in bizarre juxtapositions and were likewise attributed to the madness of the baron.
As a twelve year old the baron to be leaves his house, in a dispute over eating snails, and live the rest of his life in the trees. This don't stop him having a rich life exploring & embodying various philosophies. Simply told & sometimes laugh out loud.
3 photos of a raven, imagemagick B&W & montage. #corvid #raven
Read: The Given World by Melissa Harrison ★★★★ 📚
Angela had realised with a start that despite being in her mid-thirties her daughter hadn't yet understood how fleeting things were, that cherry blossom and blackbirds singing weren't a constant backdrop but a clock that counted you through your life: each thing there for only a moment, and then gone until next year.
Some events in the novel are leaving forever not just till next year. Chapters go through the seasons and characters. Each having a main one who reappear or you learn more about in later chapters.
#SilentSunday
Likes When rocks take a walk.
Nature waiting, I call it: just sitting there, waiting to see what comes along.
and
That would be cool. Inevitably, my former favourite rock will continue to erode: like us (and everything else) rocks wage an ongoing, ultimately futile war against entropy. But I’m sure my old rock will outlast me.
I’d like to develop some of that patience, I generally keep on the move. Maybe getting older will strengthen the ability to wait.
Victoria Park, drizzle them brightened, a couple of white butterflies over the flower beds. Went to investigate. Among the bright flowers were a few thistles. A couple of bees working over the thistles ignoring the other flowers. One butterfly came off a thistle too. Not sure which type of white.
Read: Land by Maggie O'Farrell ★★★★ 📚
A skein of marsh birds passes over his head, their cries a dissonant plucking on untuned instruments. Liam tilts his head, tracking their progress as they veer and bank over the green inclines and fields, towards the cragged cliffs that fall off into the pounding sea: a sole geometric shape moving among grand and yielding irregularities. How radiant, how lovely is the land and yet how empty. It is as if he has passed through a rent into another realm where humans are unknown, where he is the only one, and will have to make the best of it.
A mix of history & myth which did not go down well with the reviewers but it did with me. I was fairly enthralled. Most of the tale set in post famine Ireland, but stretching back to prehistory and across to India & Canada.
#SilentSunday
Out to Greenside this morning, warm, close and sometimes sunny. Butterflies: Green-veined Whites, several spotted woods, peacocks, small tortoiseshells & painted ladies on thistles.
I rather like this odd view of a painted lady. few more photos on flickr. My Butterflies by month continues to grow.
