A Nightingale Pilgrimage
So it was that after almost three weeks of recovering from the fatigue and coughing of a mild, but nevertheless very unpleasant covid infection, following right on the heels of being involved in some intense nonviolent civil disobedience, I longed to be out of the city and into the healing balm of the Spring flowering.
Walking in a Place through All Time
I love walking out on the marshes of the upper Thames estuary in all seasons. It’s a wide open edgeland landscape: rewilded nature reserve and brownfield wildness bordered by a huge landfill site, warehouses, jetties and breakers yards, with a high speed rail line on the other side.
Touching and being Touched
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the renowned phenomenologist philosopher, pointed out that we can only touch things with our hand because our hand is itself a touchable thing and therefore completely part of the tactile world. This may seem absurdly obvious and yet this fact is widely overlooked and is more profound than it might appear.
A Yew Pilgrimage
A dull chill day, hard after the Winter Solstice, found me on a trek to visit an ancient tree I feel much reverence towards: the Ankerwyke Yew.
Living in an Existential Crisis
This isn’t meant to be a gloom and doom post, but rather my attempt at grappling emotionally with the reality of being alive in the 2020s.
Air, Sea & Gannets
The gale smashes into the metre thick stone walls of the lighthouse cottage I am safely within, sheltered from the elements.
Cat Contemplations
I have a cat companion called Edie and I feel fortunate to be learning about myself from our relationship and I think in her own way, she may feel likewise.
The Power of Place
My favourite spot to sit is on my garden bench at my allotment, shrouded by creepers and thorn bushes and sheltered above year round by a big evergreen bay tree. Behind me, through the thick undergrowth, are the fields of the urban farm where the allotment is sited, which lends a curiously rural feel to a very inner city location.
My Witness Statement
I’ve found this very difficult to write. I’ve been trying to set down these thoughts on paper for a while now. I don’t know quite where to start or finish and yet expressing it feels important for my mental health, if for no other reason.
We’re never Alone
I love going out walking whether it’s in urban, edgeland or wilder places. I usually walk alone though I’m always in company. The more-than-human world is always all around and is very apparent if we are at all attuned to it.