The Magical Light Tree

I've got to the end of what has been a very hard week. At 5.30pm this afternoon I finally solved the last of a set of problems that have been plaguing me all week. I was guilty of vastly under-estimating the scale of the work involved, which, combined with random curve-balls thrown courtesy of Internet Explorer, meant that what I thought was a day's work turned into a whole week's worth. But at least it's done now.

I enjoyed a lovely Thai meal last night and it was wonderful to meet my young colleague's mother. Although from Latvia, her native language is Russian. It was simply amazing to watch both K and J, who was also with us, move quite effortlessly from Russian to English translating for us. We've always been a very international group of people. My business partner is originally from Algeria. K's boyfriend is Lithuanian. J's girlfriend is French! The main topic of conversation for the evening, as it often is when we get together, was language. I should add that both K and J are totally fluent in no less than four languages. It was all very stimulating and a lot of fun.

No road bikes at home this morning so I got one of my mountain bikes sorted for a ride over the moor into the office. I was quickly reminded why I don't choose this option too often. It's quite a pull first thing in the morning. Going up Keighley Gate Road I was overtaken by a good mate of mine, Stefan, who rather enjoyed seeing me suffer. Instead of riding on he decided to slow his pace and ride with me - which meant that I couldn't really twiddle away as intended. Thanks a bunch Stef! It was good to catch up but, combined with the uninspiring dull skies, it meant that no photographs were taken.

I intended to pop out lunchtime, but that never happened, so when I did eventually leave the office at 6pm, with very little light left, I still had no blip. The funny thing was that there was no real panic. I had no plan but I simply trusted that I would see something blipworthy - despite there really only being a few minutes of light left in the day.

I found myself taking a route back that I hadn't used since last May, via Esholt village, and once again, my unconscious mind knew where to take me - to a field which I blipped way back in May last year, just after the start of my journey here. The background was wrong for the usual over the wall/fence shot, so I popped into the field and took some pictures of a couple of lovely hawthorns marking an old boundary line. It was only on the way back to the bike (leant against the fence for the eagle-eyed) that I saw this tree properly and realised just what a timeless scene it presented with the gate and rickety fence, and the hill beyond. I knew then that my trust had been rewarded! The most amazing thing is the illusion of light that's been created here. There was no light! The sun had set already. This clearly is a magic tree!!

What's not evident from this shot is that this lane is surrounded on all sides by stuff that could easily spoil the mood of the scene. Just behind me is a railway line and telegraph wires cross the field. There are modern houses in sight. Between me and the hill beyond is a busy main road (Hollins Hill) which is my 'easy' route into work. It really isn't easy to find these solitary trees which are completely free from modern clutter - which I think is one reason why my journal is full of them. Each one is special to me. And by blipping them I'm putting a marker down, so that I can come back to them again and get to know them better in different seasons, in different conditions.

I've barely been able to make more than a dozen comments all week. Thank you so much for your forbearance and continuing to stop by my journal when, yet again, I've not been able to reciprocate as I'd like. I really, really appreciate it. Have a truly wonderful weekend.