Long-tailed tit. January 2020 Foulshaw Moss In Coronavirus self-isolation I look for inspiration, and seek to share what I find. It's spring. Open your bedroom windows, snuggle under the duvet and listen to the dawn chorus. After dawn, see what birds are visiting your garden. Make a habit of it and you'll discover nesting birds. Ours has a long-tailed tit visiting a feeder with fat balls daily. So there's a nest close-by.
The challenge would be to get a good photograph. This is one I took at Foulshaw Moss, from a hide. Glimpsing that wand-like tail on the feeder I must be quick, and slow. The slightest movement seems to cause a change of light through double-glazing and this tiny, nervous bird is gone. I have binoculars and camera to hand. Even so, it's tricky. Next challenge, find the nest. Once-upon-a-time I saw some twelve fledglings branching, huddled together as if the wide world was rather awesome. Imagine you had to spend your entire life alert to predators, to compete for food!
Next, inspiration on Scout Scar. Not a bright day but it's always inspiring. In self-isolation looking toward the distant fells is all there is. They are out of reach. I've a feeling I'll succumb to blanket-bog deprivation, a longing for sphagnum moss and upland pools, cotton grass and peat landscapes. For the time being, Scout Scar is inspirational. Breathe deeply, inhale until the chilly air fills your lungs. And exhale. Yoga on Scout Scar escarpment. Look around you. There's a lithe young figure racing across the escarpment. He has a hound on a double lead and they sprint in tandem, an impressive team. In this time of Pandemic I like to think our NHS, our scientists, our essential services are run by young athletes like him. Full to the brim with energy and purpose. And giving the rest of us inspiration. Self-isolating, we're here keeping fit so the NHS can focus on helping those in need.
A friend reminded me that I wrote about the 2001 Foot and Mouth epidemic in About Scout Scar. Disinfect your boots and the fells and all countryside out-of-bounds. That year, I explored historic Kendal. Now it's wash your hands for 20 seconds (traditional bars of soap). Coronavirus is a virus- anti-bacterial liquid soap is ineffective. Observe social-distancing ( dogs too) And self-isolation. With a warm community spirit in the air it doesn't feel like isolation. Although it's only just starting.
The good news is that CO2 emissions are much reduced: fewer flights, less road and rail traffic. Perhaps in this year of Corona Virus we might look again at the way we live in 21st century, and modify our behaviour.
Radio 4 is giving excellent updates on Coronavirus. And they've the sense to realise we need wholesome programmes, calm and tranquil. The MIrror and the Light isn't tranquil but it's the book at bedtime, read by Anton Lesser. Listening to his reading you realise the human voice can be an exquisite instrument and few are so finely tuned, either in sensitivity or cadence.
Next, inspiration on Scout Scar. Not a bright day but it's always inspiring. In self-isolation looking toward the distant fells is all there is. They are out of reach. I've a feeling I'll succumb to blanket-bog deprivation, a longing for sphagnum moss and upland pools, cotton grass and peat landscapes. For the time being, Scout Scar is inspirational. Breathe deeply, inhale until the chilly air fills your lungs. And exhale. Yoga on Scout Scar escarpment. Look around you. There's a lithe young figure racing across the escarpment. He has a hound on a double lead and they sprint in tandem, an impressive team. In this time of Pandemic I like to think our NHS, our scientists, our essential services are run by young athletes like him. Full to the brim with energy and purpose. And giving the rest of us inspiration. Self-isolating, we're here keeping fit so the NHS can focus on helping those in need.
A friend reminded me that I wrote about the 2001 Foot and Mouth epidemic in About Scout Scar. Disinfect your boots and the fells and all countryside out-of-bounds. That year, I explored historic Kendal. Now it's wash your hands for 20 seconds (traditional bars of soap). Coronavirus is a virus- anti-bacterial liquid soap is ineffective. Observe social-distancing ( dogs too) And self-isolation. With a warm community spirit in the air it doesn't feel like isolation. Although it's only just starting.
The good news is that CO2 emissions are much reduced: fewer flights, less road and rail traffic. Perhaps in this year of Corona Virus we might look again at the way we live in 21st century, and modify our behaviour.
Radio 4 is giving excellent updates on Coronavirus. And they've the sense to realise we need wholesome programmes, calm and tranquil. The MIrror and the Light isn't tranquil but it's the book at bedtime, read by Anton Lesser. Listening to his reading you realise the human voice can be an exquisite instrument and few are so finely tuned, either in sensitivity or cadence.
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