The shack...

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This is a picture I took of a dilapidated old barn  

I came across in the English countryside.

Looking upon this desolate empty place, a structure that was once but is no more an inhabitance an eerie silence fills the air. It's only comfort is in the partaking of daily rituals with its surrounding, the rising of the sun, rustling of the wind, the cooing of birds, the marching of ants and crafting of spiders as they construct their webs. Small things that one often takes for granted, things that could easily be missed in the hassle and bustle of everyday life are the hope and lifeline of this otherwise lifeless empty shell. 

The day before it was brand new, cement wet upon the bricks, wooden planks resonating from its introduction to the nails creating a union that would outlast its use. Solid and secure it stood tall and proud, daring the forces of nature to test its façade. Its manicured lawns and floral array spread across the landscape inviting the eye to wonder at its beauty. 

Like the lines upon a tree, marking its age, time marks this space with abandonment, wearing away by nature, and eroding effect spreading like an unquenchable fire across its frame, rotting away the promise of yesterday, taking away the hope of tomorrow. The wilderness that grows around it confirming its abandonment by the world, its emptiness evidence that love indeed has moved on... though it may have once lived here, it lives here no more... 

Sunset

The sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System that brings light and warm to the earth. As the sun rises each day, it brings with it a hope and promise of a new day, a new opportunity to change to address the losses of yesteryear, bring clarity to the confusion birthed from yesterday's miscommunications, an opportunity to change our world and effect change and love harder. The rising of the sun is one of those unique aspects that remind us that we are not here by accident, that the world is still spinning and that an intelligent creator pulled it all together as a sign of hope for his creation.

I love taking pictures of the sky, of the sun and nature generally, but the sun is one that always seems to steal the show or the frame in this case. When there it is rising, bringing with it new hope, or setting...signifying another day gone, a new page appearing in history, destinies redirected, altered, and for some eternally set. Sunsets inspire reflection on what we achieved and what we missed... We survey the 86 400 seconds we were given to create moments that will last a lifetime and see our legacies start to shape...

                             

Cows...beef...steak...dinner :-)

This group of cows live on a farm en-route to my house from the M4 motorway that runs from Wales to London. They are what I would like t think a landmark on the journey though when I told my girlfriend to look out for the cows as a sign that she was on track and getting close; she mocked me saying that a cow cant be a landmark! Well I beg to differ! :-) 


The inner African within me see cows in only one way...dinner! One of the traditions we have in my culture is to kill a cow (to feed people) during key family gathering, e.g. a funeral. The men would go out, to track down the cow that had been chosen and kill it, then bring it back, very often in pieces for cooking and some was given away. I remember  my brother who comes before me; at a funeral once when he was about 11 or 12...maybe younger; went along with my eldest brother, father and uncles / cousins to track down the cow and my father returned within the hour with my brother whaling uncontrollably at what he described was the injustice of an animal losing its life so we could eat! He immediately became a vegetarian and probably didn't talk to anyone for ages thereafter, still makes me laugh today :-) As a girl child I was never allowed to go along when the men killed the cow for dinner which really used to frustrate me as I was eager to be involved in the process as I was not squeamish at all and totally believed in the process. My complaint then was that I was not allowed to go along when my wimpy brother couldn't hack it! But alas they would not let us swap places...I am pleased to report that the afore mentioned brother, grew up, acquired chest hair and is now more than capable of not only attending such an event but doing the killing himself :-) The experience of getting close to live cows in the process of taking the following images did not do anything at all by way of affecting my sensibilities...steak anyone????

Horses for courses!

This is a collection of images taken in the lovely Berkshire countryside of some lovely horses I happened upon whilst driving down a country lane near my new home :-)