Today’s Pictures: 29 Oct 20

Just back from today’s walk, taking advantage of a brief spell of relative calm from the wind and rain coming in from the Atlantic. More on its way. But, undeterred, we trod the firm tracks and absorbed the spirit of the woods, made our daily connection with the trees. Wildlife mostly had the sense to …

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Today’s Pictures: 28 Oct 20

The path into the trees. One of those days when the walk had to be a dash and dare it. We were forecast a brief respite, with possible sunshine, around 15:00. But that has now come an hour later, after we’ve been out. It was wet enough underfoot to keep us to the gravelled, firm …

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Today’s Pictures: 26 Oct 20

The morning looked dull with skies full of potential rain, so we waited until after lunch for today’s walk. As it happened, the morning rain was sparse and short lived. But our afternoon saunter found us in a world full of contrasts in both light and shade and colour. Parts of the woodland have turned …

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Today’s Pictures: 25 Oct 20

Horton Bridge. The forecast for today was, shall we say, variable? Rain was a possibility both this morning and this afternoon, with sunny periods in each half of the day. Here in the UK, our clocks go back an hour on the last Sunday in October, so the sun will set today around 16:54, making …

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Today’s Picture: 24 Oct 20

This forest road was constructed to allow traffic from the quarry. It now forms a wide and easy route for walkers. Very occasionally, it still serves the quarry, too. Drizzle when we set off on this morning’s walk in the forest, drizzle when we were returning home. But a dry spell in between. And our …

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Kos in a Time of Covid 19: 6th and 7th Days.

Passing the castle walls. Thursday we decided to visit the Wetlands at Psalidi, where, apparently, a flock of flamingos feed in a small lake. The place is about 4 kilometres out of town, so we set off after breakfast, water in the backpack and camera on my shoulder. The coast of Turkey We passed the …

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Today’s Picture: 22 Oct 20

A brief respite from the wet weather today, bringing us bright sunshine. The next three days are forecast to be wet and windy. So, we took full advantage and set off after breakfast for our walk. We managed a four-mile saunter through the forest, and saw not another soul the entire time, which suited us …

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A Short Story for You.

This short story is from the collection in my anthology, Ten Tales for Tomorrow. I present it here for your enjoyment. (If it inspires you to read the rest of the collection, you’ll find links to that at the foot of this post. Enjoy!) Smoke A thin curl of greenish smoke rose from sand ahead, …

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Today’s Picture: 19 Oct 20

Even on grey days, the autumn colours can brighten the scene. As the season of mellow fruitfulness slowly builds here in the UK, our days will shorten, skies will more frequently grow grey, and rain will more often fall. So, when I can, I’ll include two pictures. Usually, one will be of the forest as …

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Today’s Picture: 18 Oct 20

Autumn has arrived here. The top picture is from today’s walk in the forest, this part on one of the old forest roads no longer in use for motorised traffic; the most it sees is a few mountain-bikers, the occasional horse rider, and a few dog walkers and others, like us, who enjoy the peace …

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21 Lessons for the 21st Century, by Yuval Noah Harari: #BookReview.

416 pages Political History and Theory/Evolutionary Psychology This is an unusually truthful book, written in rational prose with a degree of honesty that will startle most readers. Presented in five parts, entitled, The Technological Challenge, The Political Challenge, Despair and Hope, Truth, and Resilience, with each section further divided, it does what it states in …

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Kos in a Time of Covid 19: 5th Day.

Entry to the Ancient Agora. Our morning started with a walk along Pamfylon, the street where our hotel was sited. We were curious to see whether we could reach the northern coast that way. It meandered past another hotel complex, apparently unoccupied, a few other isolated roadside buildings, and ended rather disappointingly in what seemed …

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Coping in a Time of Covid. A #Poem

Picture from Masum Ali via Pixabay Coping in a Time of Covid. Strange and sometimes frightening timesHow do we respond react survive copewhen so much is unknownso much more conjectured often falselyExperts juggle with factsconstantly changing asresearch experience experimentscombine to form new truthsLeaders with supporters colleagues advisorsare overeager to display their skillsin managing a phenomenonstill …

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Today’s Picture: 13 Oct 20

Hints of autumn among the deciduous trees, and the bracken is dying back. Our walk today took us along one of our favourite routes. A large tree had fallen across the path, possibly overnight, and formed a barrier to less able walkers, so I took photos and reported it to the Forestry Commission when we …

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Today’s Picture: 8 Oct 20

Lakeside path. Yesterday, we visited the nearby spot known as Cannop Ponds. This is actually an area with a couple of small lakes, used for fishing and the enjoyment of walkers. The weather was about as ideal as it can be at this time of the year and I took a lot of photographs. I’m …

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