The Lockdown Diary - the Final Chapter?

            I've been rather too slack in admiring and commenting on your work recently.  Apologies for that; normal service will be resumed shortly.  The excuse for this failure on my part?  Unseasonably good weather.  The last four days have been still and sunny, not at all what we're used to at the end of February.  More often than not we're cowering from the volley of brutal storms that mark the closing weeks of winter at this time of year.  I've even unzipped my down filled coat more than once during our gentle strolls along the daily circuit.  It really has been rather lovely.

On Friday we extended the loop as far as the mine workings, something we could do because I'd taken a long weekend.  We sat in the sun eating trail bars in front of the lone chimney stack that towers over what was once Poldice Mine.  We'd noticed for the first time ever that those ubiquitous yellow blooms on the gorse that fills every patch of wasteland in these parts smells of coconut sunscreen oil.  Evidently, neither of us had bothered to take an up close sniff before now.  I'd trained my all too rarely used Sigma Art lens on the new catkins that tell us Spring is close at hand, and we idled happily through the enormous puddles that the recently departed rains had left behind. We stopped before the huge oak tree beside the path to admire its almost perfect symmetry once more, as I wondered when I might photograph it again.  On a gorgeous day like this, stolen from winter's icy grasp, you can't help but feel serene; especially when the weekend still lies ahead of you.  

As the sun sunk below the treeline of the Estate to the west we found ourselves among the tall beech trees of Scorrier Wood.  We've passed through here almost every day these past two months, usually with a mild sense of urgency because I have to return to my makeshift desk in the kitchen for the afternoon session of servitude in front of the computer.  But today, as the working week drew to its close we were able to stop and listen for more than just a few fleeting moments.  A riot of sound raced down to us from the branches above.  I'd love to tell you which of the many songs belonged to which species, but I'd be making it up.  In the twilight all we could see was the occasional outline of something small and feathered, flitting from one perch to the next.  Somewhere in the middle ground the repeated drilling sound of a woodpecker added percussion to the symphony.  We sat on the trunk of a fallen tree and listened to the evening chorus at length.  It was a glorious moment with which to complete an afternoon of simple pleasures.  As we sat in the forest surrounded by the perfection of nature I ramped up the ISO in the fading light for one more handheld picture.

In a week from now the restrictions in the UK will begin to ease and I will be forced to spend most of my waking hours listening to the rather less enjoyable sound of thousands of adolescents outside my window at work.  If the Government have got it right then I won't be working from home again after Friday.  Although we'll still come here often, it won't be every day and we'll soon be spreading our own wings a little further as we can begin to travel slightly further afield again.  But this image will always remind me of these strange times and the magic that can still be found if you just look and listen for it.

Taken in: UK / England / St. Day / Scorrier (show map)

Taken on: February 26, 2021

Tags:

woods

woodland

Cornwall

Redruth

evening

dusk

after sunset

Kernow

winter

February

trees

tree

treescape

Great Britain

England

forest « less

Sets appears in: • Unity Woods • Trees

Groups appears in: • Cornwall Flickr Users • Flickr Social Club more » • flickr (unofficial) • Amateur Photographer Magazine • Flickr Social • Flickr Photo Unlimited (No People) « less

Camera: Canon EOS 80D, f/10.0, 1/50 sec, 18mm, ISO 640 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 80D
Lens:	18-35mm
Aperture:	f/10.0
Exposure Time:	0.02 sec (1/50)
Focal Length:	18mm
ISO:	640
Exposure Bias:	+2/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Partial
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 10.1.1 (Windows)
Show full info

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