Ilkley Bigfoot!

Big Bigfoot

It's been a rather eventful 24 hours. Lots of good stuff, plus some bad stuff! I'll begin by getting the bad stuff out of the way. First, I've come down with a bit of a cold, not a debilitating cold just an annoying sniffle, at least at the moment, but I could really have done without this right now. Second, I took a fall on some ice last night, running for the train back from Leeds. It happened so quickly that I didn't experience any of that usual time delation during which you can prepare for the worst. I can only recall the moment of impact when my jaw hit the pavement, sending shockwaves through my skull. Having had a few nasty impacts while riding my bike (resulting in various broken bones), I have to admit that I initially feared some serious damage.

I got up slowly, my hand holding my lower jaw, half expecting it to disintegrate if I let go. There was blood, but not that much. One good sign. I loosened the hold on the chin and nothing seemed to fall off. Two good signs. I explored my teeth and although they felt strange none of them appeared to be wiggling around. Three good signs. I might just have got away with it. I looked at my watch and realised that I could still make the train if I got a move on. I know from experience that, provided the damage is superficial, the best thing to do is to keep moving and let the body's natural painkillers take over. Which is exactly what I did.

I made the train but as soon as I stopped running I began to feel decidedly groggy, which wasn't helped when the train got stuck in a tunnel because of an animal on the line! It took me an hour and a half to get home - where it is normally a thirty minute journey. I was pleasantly surprised though, when I finally looked in the mirror, to find that I was nothing like as beaten up as I expected to be - but I hope you'll still forgive me for not responding to anyone last night.

I'm not exactly a pretty sight at the moment but I was allowed to spend the day with our clients without fear of putting any of them off their lunch! I've been slightly frustrated at missing yet more beautiful winter light today, but the time at work has been very stimulating and productive. There was a real synergistic feel to the discussions with our partners from Holland, who were extremely impressed with our prototype system. Perhaps the very best thing is that they are all such delightful, interesting and enthusiastic people. I think we all look forward to working on this together - provided we can get the grants required.

So, today's shot was taken in Darwin Gardens, five minutes walk from the station, before catching the train into the office. More than anything else I wanted to capture the extent of the frost that has built up over the last four or five nights. We've had no snow. This is just moisture crystallising out of the air. The bonus was catching this giant footprint!