Change is Constant

Day 76

05 August 2009

Have you ever noticed that nothing ever stays quite the same?

That there is always change in everything you see, and everything you do?

Even if it is a tiny, almost imperceptible thing, there is something different about today, that wasn't there yesterday.

This is something I am very aware of whenever I take a photograph. When I release the shutter, it is capturing a fragment of time. Then in a moment, something is different. The picture has changed.

Whilst we were sitting at Peveril Point today, I was considering the concept of change as I watched the water lapping on the shoreline. The tides rise and fall daily, but even they are not a constant, as the times of high and low tide gain an hour each day.

Even these pebbles are subjected to constant change due to the tides shifting the position or turning them over. Everything around us will change, whether we are aware of it, or not, whether we can control it, or not.

One big change on the horizon is our schooling system. This evening I went to a meeting to discuss the future of secondary education in Swanage. The room was full of people who were keen to have a positive, forward-thinking change to the way in which our children will be educated. Each person there knew that there was nothing we could do to stop the changes that lie ahead; but we can try to make sure that we benefit from that change rather than fight against it.
After all, the only constant in life is change.

Colour On A Grey Day

Day 75

04 August 2009

This afternoon I went to the Photographers Lounge to discuss some prints they are doing for me. I'm excited about it, but also a bit worried about how they will come out. I get a slight sense of dread that I will find that my photographic skills might look acceptable on screen, but when it comes to printing a photo and looking at it in "the flesh", it will show up all sorts of horrible things I hadn't noticed before.

Later on, we went to the far, far end of the beach, today, up towards Old Harry Rocks. It was drizzling, but we didn't mind. In fact, we barely noticed it. My son slept through it, and my daughter ran around looking for things to jump on, in or over, and looking for pebbles, oyster shells and fossils.
Then I told her to stop all that whilst I took some photos with her. She obliged, luckily. She likes posing for me, now, although sometimes she rolls her eyes and tutts at me if I ask her to sit still for a second. Cheeky thing!


Even though the weather has been a dull grey, nothing sort of day, there has still been colour all around us. I love to see brightly-painted beach huts, or people wearing bright raincoats and those Crocs that are available in most colours. I love seeing bright umbrellas, and then the reflections in the puddles on the ground.

I find the colours uplifting and comforting. To me it's a reminder that there are rainbows everywhere we go, even in the rain!

But I couldn't resist at least one black and white image for today!

Rainshine

Day 74

03 August 2009

All day it was sunny. I did some washing. I hung it out to dry. We went for a walk. We ran some errands. We were walking around wearing T-shirts, sunglasses, and a smile on our faces. My son, who loves sitting in his buggy and watching the world go by, cooed contentedly as we headed up to the far end of the beach to meet our friend at her beach hut.

We were being chased by a big, grey cloud. It got bigger. And bigger.

Then, just as we were heading home, it pushed in front of the sun, wrung itself out on the beach, sauntered around in the wind, and poked out its tongue in a "nah-nah-nee-nah-nah-nah" sort of way, before deciding to stick around silently, for a while.
On the way to the beach, my sunglasses protected my eyes, as per usefulness.

On the way home, they were perched on top of my head, trying to look useful but actually serving only to keep two dry patches on my head. The rest of me was drenched.

But I didn't care, and neither did my kids. My son was tucked into his buggy with the raincover on, and my daughter, like me, enjoyed the rain dotting our clothing in big, watery dollops. I found it exhilarating, like eating a tangy ice-lolly on a hot day; or running down a hill really fast with the full force of the wind in your face.

I suspect that snails don't mind the rain. This one didn't seem to. Its stalky eyes recoiled in suprise as I pointed my lens at it, though.

Pegs, mockingly sitting on the wall, having been plucked off the line in a hurry to rescue the sheets.

But I don't mind! Positive. Stay Positive!

Raindrops keep fallin on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin on my head, they keep fallin

So I just did me some talkin to the sun
And I said I didnt like the way he got things done
Sleepin on the job
Those raindrops are fallin on my head, they keep fallin

But theres one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me wont defeat me
It wont be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep fallin on my head
But that doesnt mean my eyes will soon be turnin red
Cryins not for me
cause Im never gonna stop the rain by complainin
Because Im free
Nothins worryin me

It wont be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep fallin on my head
But that doesnt mean my eyes will soon be turnin red
Cryins not for me
cause Im never gonna stop the rain by complainin
Because Im free
Nothins worryin me

Tasting Times

Day 73

02 August 2009

I am mostly using the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) approach to my 6-and-a-bit-month-old son. It's all very different to how things were a few years ago with my daughter. With her, we spent an hour each week pureeing various fruits and vegetables, being careful about what foods to give her when, worrying that the food wasn't mashed enough for her and having concerns over choking. I avoided all wheat and dairy with her until she was over a year. She loves her food, and is generally not a fussy eater, although she has her moments. Don't they all?

This time though, things are different. I am chopping fruits and vegetables into fist-sized amounts for my son to hold and put into his mouth. He generally sucks a bit of carrot until it turns white before ending up on the floor, amongst the other discarded matter that is strewn around his chair.
Today he had a piece of wheat and gluten free toast from a loaf I made in the breadmaker yesterday. Now I don't know if it was the breadmaker's fault or mine, but the bread came out soggy and heavy, despite me following the advice about the order to put the ingredients into the tin. Not that it bothered my son. He sat with us happily sucking and gumming his piece of toast and feeling very proud of himself, too. This evening, he had par-cooked carrot and courgette sticks, and some rice with boiled chard and some milk mixed in with it. He loved it! So refreshing up to the pureeing and mashing of 4 years ago!

But the one food item he loves more than anything else is banana. His arms and legs flail all over the place on site of Banana.

Yum!

The Things That Are Lost

Day 72

01 August 2009

After all the late nights over the past week, we had a lazy morning, today. As a result, the afternoon slid lazily by, too. At some point today we chanced our luck for a walk out in between the rain showers.

Saturday is the change-over day for tourists, so the town was heaving at lunchtime, and strangely quiet in comparison, this afternoon. There were only a handful of people on the beach.

As we walked, I noticed two Lost Things. Firstly was this umbrella, which to me looks as though it's looking out to sea for its owner to come by and whisk it away. I wonder if they will? Or will it be the victim of burglary, and be stolen by a soggy holiday-maker in need of shelter?

The second Lost Thing was described on the poster, above. I felt a longing for that ring to be found. As I walked past I looked at the vastness of the sand along the beach; the tide slowly creeping up the shore to its height of tide 3 hours later; and felt the breeze on my face. How could anyone find a ring in all of this?
So.
If you have a metal detector, and aren't doing much tomorrow, have a trek along Swanage beach to look for the ring!


As it's Saturday, there will be another fireworks display tonight. Here on the new quay, the organisers are preparing for tonights' display.

I like the shadowy reflection in the water. No other reason!

Durlston

Day 71

31 July 2009

We walked up to Durlston, today. Our plan was to go to our "fairy meadow"; scare off the ogres under the bridge in the woods; and have an ice lolly up at the castle.

We packed a picnic, made up of the local strawberries and raspberries we picked the other day, some mackerel sandwiches, and some tea. But not lashings and lashings of ginger beer. How big is a lashing, anyway?

This is the view at the castle cafe at Durlston. The first peninsula is peveril point; the second is Old Harry Rocks; and in the far distance, Bournemouth, with the winter gardens air balloon just visible. Dolphins are regular visitors to these shores.

I don't know what this is, but it's pretty!

Fun Run

Day 70

30th July 2009

This evening we went out to watch the Swanage Fun Run. I wanted to do it, but I couldn't because of feeding clashes.

Oh, and everyone would have gone home to bed by the time I'd have staggered past the finish line. There were some great finishing times. The winner (who I missed, annoyingly) completed the 4 mile run in just over 20 minutes.

This is my friend, Narayan, who did it in around 24 mins or thereabouts - he didn't check his time!

There was a good turn-out of spectators, even if it was a bit windy up on Sandpit field.

Earlier on in the day we walked along the seafront, which was packed with tourists who had been expecting rain as predicted by the met office. Whilst we were there we had an ice-lolly, and watched (yet another) Punch and Judy show. I didn't know that there are only a few places left in the country where you can see Punch and Judy.