halfway through scarfing brekkie, it was so delish that i felt compelled to stop and take its portrait
a lidl special, muesli, granola, oat milk, plumped out with frozen fruit (four berry medley), organic banana, maca powder and pumpkin seeds
pudding was 2 chocolate ginger biscuits… because i can
normally i should have moved on to porridge by now, but always behind the curve (what curve, the earth is flat ne c’est pas?!), likewise, i shall remain in shorts until the winter solstice
oh and the other pic is a stumble upon from forever ago, but i like its four berry flavour
anyway… as you were
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from my jog this morning:
brambles covered in black sludge, the wilt smother of forgotten fruit… glum, autumnal doldrums… listopad, leaf fall, season of remorse
the gradual retreat of light, the withdrawing of life into this earth… sodden ground
ha, precisely why i’m out, sweating and cursing along the tow path… prod those brain chemicals… dope dopa-dopamine saviour!
I love climbing trees, heres me, ooh mbe 8 feet off the ground limber lumber! aloft! a mottled, dappled, fickle light, decanted through the vibrant green of leaves… seethe green the long, far sprawled arms, which creak wiithin the wind, something of a sea swell, an ease, a sway, that further emphasises this living sturdiness yet root chakra, shackled securely to the ground, a great grey elephants foot, then the root rummage deep within the earth dragonflies skitter past, iridescence of wing
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fraught of thought! duff photo, lack of perspective, so you’d never know i was near skybound went for a cycle ride yesterday, battled up to the South Downs way, followed the ridge to alfriston, then back via Friston Forest. kids and i have been climbing this tree forever, the be-tentacled Ash… on account of its octopus limbs I love Ash energy, always feels gentle and forgiving… tho I do know 2 ancient ones, in a much neglected copse, those are trees of the fae, you can imagine doors, a portal to the under realm climbing, i usually get to about 8 ft up, then think, hmmm, thats probably far enough i’ve never been the daredevil type, a smidge delusional and gung ho, yet renowned more for timidity and vertigo super impressed by anyone who scales to preposterous heights, but they be creatures of fire and air, whilst i’m more earth and water (mud!) when doing a creative visualisation, in the bit when they say ‘imagine your home, somewhere where you belong’ i always feel myself to be cradled in the arms of a huge ancient oak tree, proper gnarly usually its near to a stream or a waterfall, else a gentle slope down to the sea and a small sandy shell strewn cove grown ups should climb trees more often! a political slogan? …peters out midst vast distraction and things to do
Rainbow Moon Aura look up agog! wonder… loom lune opalescence what is a pearl? thing of flesh, an oysters itch from a grain of sand
Coming out from the Zu Studios Mycelium party in Lewes, 1:30 in the morning, after 3 hours of sweat drenched dancing like a loon to Kaya Project An almost Full Hunters Moon… pic credit to Mara, thx… impossible, almost futile to snap these things on a phone blast of moonlight washes it out… yet, to the naked eye, the moon was a near perfect pearl in the sky, etched with its familiar craters and shadows around the moon space, elbow room of darkness, then two Rainbow rings of course i have seen moon auras and rings before, memorably when out in the desert around Mount Sinai, back when i was 22 yet always in shades of whites and greys, never this intensity of colour beautiful astonishment i love the fact that even at 58 years of age, I can still experience a completely new natural phenomenon high whisp feather clouds, the ice crystals have a prismatic effect on the moonlight it lasted for about half an hour… people came out, familiar faces, new ones, but all stopped to gabble and gawp bathed in moonlight
the woods reek of rot, of fungus, to speak of solemn loss autumn is afoot, not quite, but certainly tickling at the toes i am nimble amongst the cautious quiet of the morning having rummaged deep in the wardrobe for todays costume, vintage 2013! nut season… conkers with their whorled grain and rich lustrous mahoganny sheen hazlenuts startled, fresh from the preposterous, baroque lace of their casing yada yada! ….. grappled with flu, some work, equinox boogie and sacred stroll, lots of hanging out with friends and family! been pleasant snaps from this morning and a jaunt to batemans with daughter x
Chalk… crushed skeletons, the weight of forever! morning light, the sun washed white through the milk murk up on the cliffs at castle hill, this weeks theme the swathes of hawthorn berries, scarlet as flame jacaranda ‘blobbed’ blackberries, the best a yogic stretch out of reach later, down on the beach after a swim… ‘ALbion alBIon albiON’ rembering the chant from the football, that ebbed and flowed like waves Albion is, of course, an ancient name for Britain, from at least Romano Celt times, derived from a word for white, most likely due to the cliffs of the south east tho nowadays more familiar through the prism, the mythology of Blake, for whom Albion was a giant and THE primeaval man i can imagine a merchant from the low countries, his boat down laden with coloured glass, pewter plates, sails restless in the breeze, grey sky overhead, grey swell of sea, brood beneath the boat lifts up, a rent in the clouds, blue sky, and there… look … majestic towering cliffs gleaming, crown chakra white, this enchanted, shining land
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word froth aside, i’ve been loving this late burst of sunshine, swan song of a reluctant summer, was a busy august with festies, adventures in devon etc tuesday went with daughter up atop of the seven sisters, then yesterday a pedal with son up seaford head (autocorrect always wants to say ‘seafood’)! feasting on marrows from the garden (forgotten courgettes!), tomatoes and errm rotton apple juice! be cider sea side (kids.. mostly.. obvs reluctant to be in facebook snaps)
gorge on courgettes, man and his marrows… tomatoes refusing to ripen, understandable, soggy drek day yawn, slightly sleepy… tons o’fun stuff 10 days at buddhafield, daughters graduation! xx
RIP, had almost forgotten this fabulous song
Nat: Ahh didn’t see you at buddhafield!
Shame! A familiar tale, what with the bonkers weather, so many old friends glimpsed but briefly across the field… but, ha, a glut of glorious connection and hugs galore… So can’t REALLY grumble… Hope yours was a good un xx
Exeter Uni Réunion. Nimble and Poised. 40 (Forty!) Years ago in September Fresher’s week we all met for the first time… in our 2nd year sharing an iconic student house, 82 Howell Road next to the prison. Tim, Mary, Sarah, Ben, Kathy, Claire and String! Beautiful people x ………. Last weekend, a lush few days back in Exeter… Sunshine, Tapas and Falafel, wine, laughter, even some dancing, lots of catching up and a healthy dollop of reminiscence slip back into the groove of group dynamics, the ebb and flow of rapport… the trajectory of lives, successful, well lived… families, jobs, dreams… but all of us miraculously somehow the same! And not! broader, deeper, trust this spiral upwards
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I love Exeter … the cathedral is magnificent! The city small, quaint, ancient and quirky… perfect for my 18year old self. Shy and introverted, I’d hated the grim, aggressive, bog standard comphrensive secondary school… but at uni… reading books was COOL! staying up all night pontificating nonsense was where it was at! Along with all the usual teenagery things (we were so young!)… drinking, dancing, flirting and an awful lot of laughing. Beauty and astonishment Privileged? Gawd yeah… but if life leaves you curious, loving and open hearted, only a good thing… in benign conditions we all have the possibility to flourish… and.. schmaltzy, clunky stylee, it is Indeed late at night, ha… what makes us the perpetually blossoming beings we are? Why, nowt but the company of beautiful funny friends! x
mary: You’re a great poet for a Chemist String! Lovely thoughts and beautifully expressed. Three years is a flash in the grand scheme of our lives, but such a formative time, and we were lucky to find such lovely people x
Ha, never the most plausible of chemists, the dubious foibles of a jazz hip hop soul!… tho as a sometime programmer deffo happy to own my logical scientific side…. yes! Such a brief but influential time… First steps out into the world… uni and travel deffo set the tone for my life… and, as you say, a blessing to meet such beautiful folk xx
sarah: Lovely words – and we were so young ! Very happy memories of that time, very formative years, but best of all fun – very lucky to have known such people ! The daft things we sometimes did lol, and a lovely place to spend time in x
Lawks we were but babies! Smashing days!… Glad you could join reunion even if just by vid link xx
bexy: Ha Stringo – I’d forgotten you had a previous bunch of Exeter friends!! So which year was it when you lived with Marky Boy & Hugh etc. in Pennsylvania? That’s the start of my String era! . And there was Ocean City ….
Bexy! Early 86 when I moved in with those reprobates, I’d had my 21st in Sydney… So everyone thought I was some wise, ancient almost geriatric soul… Reunions are brill… Let’s have one for the Pennsylvania gang next year, year after?… Oh and we’ll always have ocean city… King and Queen o the boardwalk! Xxx
nige: Well said String! We were so lucky x
… and thanks to you, and the eternal summer oldridge vibe, my “back from travelling semi detached’ uni adventures pleasantly spooled on for several more years! Blessed idleness indeed Xx
Ended up here at the end of my jog this morning… Quick sea dip, it’s cryogenic baby, just like Cristiano Ronaldo… no towel no problem!… And indeed such a shiny head Floundering along by hove lawns, joining the daily throng, it’s where all the cool kids run! Think I shall try and take my shoes up to London next visit, much fun wheezing past iconic monuments
So which year was it when you lived with Marky Boy & Hugh etc. in Pennsylvania? That’s the start of my String era! 
. And there was Ocean City ….