I drove one of my daughters to the next village to catch the school bus, and then parked and walked around. I’ve never done that before. I’ve always rushed straight back to get on with work.
When I drove into the village, I notice there were some interesting shapes on the church walls: angular shadows cast by the buttresses. So I took my camera and set off there. A woman came out of the house in front of me. She was tall and slender, with her white hair tied in a bun. She wore green wellies and pulled a shopping trolley. Where would someone be going with green wellies and a shopping trolley? They’re for two different terrains. I followed her to the church, where she turned in and went up to the church door. Perhaps she had decorations for the Harvest Festival.
I don’t like to disturb people in churches, so I started walking around the edge of the churchyard instead. Then I saw a man in the corner of the churchyard bobbing up and down from behind the gravestones. Maybe he was digging a grave. He looked red-faced enough, but he was also too old to dig graves. Perhaps he was just tidying a grave. Either way, I turned back. I like to be alone in these places, so I feel less-self-conscious.
So there we are: 8:30 on a sunny September morning in a churchyard. These are people whose lives I know nothing about, and would never have noticed if I was working.
Some yew berries had fallen on the church wall, and reminded me of an incident from when I was a child, about 8 years old. My mum took us to church each Sunday, and after the service people lingered outside the porch to chatter. My mum must have been talking to someone, because in a moment of idleness I picked up a yew berry and lobbed it into a jar on a grave. An old woman snapped at me. I don’t remember what she said, something like, “Someone is buried under there, show some respect!” It’s odd how I don’t remember her appearance – perhaps just a big coat and pointy glasses – but I remember her intent. I knew she was venomous and wanted to hurt.
One of my goals these six months is to make some websites. This afternoon I did and audit of the sites I have. I’ve decided to make seven, including this one, each using a different technology.
I was sitting in the garden this afternoon, looking up at our tall fir tree, when I saw two white butterflies high in the sky above. I’ve never seen butterflies so high. They were scuttering round and round each other, touching and recoiling, round and round whilst drifting across against the blue sky.
I said yesterday that today I’d take photographs of things that I’d otherwise pass by. So here we are, the photos I wouldn’t have bothered with today:
