Taking flight

Apparently it’s Blue Monday - allegedly the most miserable day of the year. Somehow, I don’t think allocating this to one day in January 2021 is valid. They’re all equally bad - or good, depending on what you make of each day. 

Here, it’s a good day. We even have some unexpected sunshine during our morning walk, and it doesn’t rain this afternoon. 

It’s my journal day - the day I’ve set aside to write up last week’s account of life during the pandemic. This used to be a daily task, and of course when I started this last March I never even considered I’d still be writing it. But now the best I can do is sum things up week by week. 

I spend quite some time deciding on today’s blip. It’s not an easy task. Down on the beach we came across a large group of  juvenile herring gulls - a crèche supervised by a couple of adults. At one time, I found these mottled individuals just plain irritating - kids that still relied too much on their parents, and were generally just a bit, well, stupid. However, recently, I’ve begun to find them quite endearing and find their brown markings and dark doe-eyes almost beautiful. 

So there it was: I had my blip - gull crèche. Then suddenly, something spooks them - possibly me - and they take flight. There are wings and legs everywhere, and  I just follow them as they take off over the sea. 

It’s hard to come down on one image. They all have elements in focus, elements blurred through movement - and that’s what I like. Eventually I go with one where they are just taking off, but I’m including a few others as extras...... and then I change my mind, and substitute it for one when they are actually in flight across the waves.