Postcards from the edge of living
“These are a few of my favourite things”
“These are a few of my favourite things”
My summertime distraction of cataloguing my local travels started as purely a happy accident that drove a kernel of an idea that, as so often happens within the confines of my tiny mind, skipped quickly to compulsion and obsession. It’s also quickly become an antidote to a world I’ve never understood becoming a parody of itself, a hideously contorted and dangerous parody, and whilst the masses may laugh, the last laugh will blind side them and ultimately, be on them. That philosophical question of “what is real life?” can never be answered via the medium of rectangular shaped pieces of expensive plastic connected via invisible witchcraft to an electrical Matrix and nor have I found it whilst rambling along a canal or through the ruins of a 12th Century Abbey, a Castle or a magnificently maintained Cathedral. These are all joys of course and throwbacks to a time machine past who’s heritage should never be forgotten but it’s been the human interactions along the way these past weeks that have cemented a firm constitution as to what “real life” is. Hitching a lift aboard a canal boat for three miles in the right direction after weeks of exclaiming you couldn’t possibly go in the wrong direction on a canal, crossing a “Stream in the Sky” and a World Heritage engineering marvel, countless “Good Morning’s”, tales of travel, local gossip, reminiscences, admirations for a tattoo that turns even the most surrealistic of heads, people such as Geoff, John, Paul and particularly Tony who summed up the summer so far with the friendliest of human natures as he surveyed the entirety of the rolling hills and mountains as well as the canal locks that gently sloped downward and away from us against a piercing blue sunshine filled sky and exclaimed “it’s not a bad way to spend an afternoon is it?”
That’s real life, isn’t it?
In a melancholic break from the norm I’ve compiled eight postcards from four of my favourite local spots from the 29th and 31st August 2022 and I’ve accompanied them with the lyrics to “My Favourite Things” as another break from the normal structure of my travel articles. As I hope you’ll enjoy, there’s a World Heritage Site and the world’s first iron bridge, a “Staircase” set of canal locks, the beautifully tranquil canal setting of Gnosall and just three miles along the waterways you’ll find the always beautiful Norbury Junction. I’ll leave you to decide where and which is which, but do please keep an eye out for some rather hungry ducks, a red London bus (not in London) and a gorgeous dog named “Bear” who loves a good fussing!
*All images captured on Monday 29th and Wednesday 31st August 2022*
*All lyrics from “My Favourite Things” (1965)*
“When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I don’t feel so bad”
Thanks for reading. My “Summer Project” has taken me to the waterways as well as many historical castle and religious ruins as I’ve crisscrossed the nearby border between England and Wales.
My three most recently published travel articles are linked below:
Shakespeare in the Stratford Sunshine — Part 9
A fond farewell to a day of “making memories”medium.com
Shakespeare in the Stratford Sunshine — Part 8
Deleted Scenes! Volume 3.medium.com
Lichfield Cathedral basking in the early morning sunshine
Friday 19th August 2022medium.com