The Lockdown Rambles #4

The places that I explored on these lockdown rambles, inspiring finds so close to my home, I will revisit often. The pictures that I took serve as a kind of photographic diary, a reminder of the unique times that we have all lived through, something positive to take away from a troubling period that has affected nearly everyone on the planet. Through dark hours, a way to forget for a while.

“One moment the world is as it is. The next, it is something entirely different. Something it has never been before.”

– Anne Rice, Pandora

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With trust that there should be no need for re-exploring of the theme, this is the final ramble of the series. It is about the weird wonders I have stumbled upon.
Its title: All Things Through Narrow Chinks of a Cavern – a quote stolen, in part, from William Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

These next two images – the first found among dunes in Cornwall, the second somewhere in the East Sussex countryside – are set in such contrasting landscapes. Whoever constructed the amazing little structure on the left, I hope that they one day achieve something to the scale of the other one. Nevertheless, both encouraged me to stop and stare.

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“I am on a curiosity voyage, and I need my paddles to travel. These books . . . these books are my paddles.”

– Dustin Henderson, from Stranger Things (Netflix)

Riding a similar theme are the finds that stayed with me days after plodding upon them. Each of them has their own gnarly story, the scarecrow in particular. With the uncertain, darkening light behind it, its lifelike proportions and fertiliser sack head, it could have been left behind by John Carpenter after a shoot. (If you would like to see the freaky gif that I made out of this image, follow this link to Twitter . . .)

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i get so lost

in where I want to go

i forget that the place i’m in

is already quite magical

– Rupi Kaur, from Home Body

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pareidolia noun
the imagined perception of a pattern or meaning where it does not actually exist, as in considering the moon to have human features
– Collins English Dictionary

When you happen upon a stile or a gate from which the surrounding fence has fallen down or been removed, tell me, do you still go over or through it? Doors to nowhere, too, like exploring a castle ruin or tumbledown cottage, who’s to say that our lives don’t change if we choose to go through them? However unlikely that would be in real life, anything is possible in the imagination. (Yes, I can be irritating to go on wanders with. And in plenty of other situations, too.)

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“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.”

– Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception

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Like any good walk, it’s best to have some favourite stopping places*. The top of this field is the pivot point before descending to the road that leads back home. It has been my number one find, made all the more perfect for the fact that the town cannot be seen, hidden beyond the final roll of the woodlands, still about a fifty minute walk away.

*even better with wine or a beer

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And the next two pictures show places that I haven’t stopped, because, erm . . .

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Finally, back in town, this is perhaps my favourite picture. On the right, the streetlight captured in the leaves is like a chandelier lighting the night; a combination of a manmade object complimenting nature – as it will on occasion.

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The longer that the restrictions upon our lives continued, there were plenty of times when I had to drag myself outside, rather than festering like a forgotten potato when I didn’t have to, reminding myself that this simple liberty was not available for so many people, worldwide. I was fortunate, and I am grateful for that – even though I often forgot to take snacks with me.

Obviously there were plenty more pictures that didn’t make it into this little series, and I was tempted to do at least a couple more of them. But, as usual, I’ve rambled on long enough. There is one picture, though, that perhaps will remind me more than any other of living through a pandemic – even though it is not a very good picture at all. It is of the full moon above a testing centre, so many lights illuminating a winter night.

And this. Well, this is a digger that is parked in a lake. Naturally . . .

I hope that you’ve managed to find positive ways of expending energy and finding new inspirations, too. And I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist just one last one, showing how I keep myself amused sometimes. I am very well aware that it is only myself who I amuse, but I’m fine with that. Also, I take safety guidelines very seriously.