Possible #5

Well I like it. It is one of the wooden trestle bridges on the old railroad that we cycled down. I have tried to abstract an image that is not too obvious, and that will have other aspects [a sense of menace maybe].

Possible #4

Some more desert grass.

I thought this was great, but I am not so sure now. As ever, time will tell. 

One more to come after this.

Possible #3

The seeds on the dead grass seemed to be clinging on to life.

You need to click on this shot to see it properly

Possible #2

And here is the next one I like. Taken in the canyon at Bandelier. It might be a bit too literal - time will tell.

SF Sorrow

Back we are, straight into too much travel for work. Oh well. Happy to work on my photos from the trip, I reckon I have three or four good enough to show for the Open Studios show in April. Here is the first one.

SF 8

Checking out on a beautiful day, the drive to the quietest airport in the world was great, and the check in sublime. We talked to a teacher from a Quaker school in Pennsylvania that is a sister school to Rowan's [small world] and a local who gave us all the info on the airport.

The photo shows the combined arrivals / departure / security / car hire / food hall area. The crowds speak for themselves.

The flight across New Mexico and Texas at a low height was the greatest view of any flight I have been on; incredible journey across Mesas, desert, eventual settlement, irrigated fields and finally Fort Worth Texas.

We had a long layover at Dallas Fort Worth airport, so we took the train/tram in to the centre of Dallas. Not my favourite city, we found somewhere to have a good Mexican meal then got the train back. There was a cheerleaders competition in town, which didn't do a lot to improve it.

SF 7

Our last full day in Santa Fe. We spent the morning walking on the Tierra Trails to the west of the city. Low key walking on desert hills, really rewarding. I had scoped these out in the week, so it was good to now be able to share them with Danielle. Trinket shopping for gifts took up some afternoon time – there is plenty of scope for this activity in Santa Fe.

In the evening we went to the brilliant Jean Cocteau indy cinema in town – a real throwback to cinemas like the Everyman in Hampstead and the Electric in Notting Hill. Armed with coffee and candy we watched a suitably bleak Romanian black and white peasant classic from 2015 called Aferim! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aferim! I really loved it. Danielle less so. Then a ten minute walk back to the hotel.

SF 6

We got some lunch from a trendy cafe, then made our way to Mellow Velo [great name] bike shop where we hired a tandem for the day. There is a cycle route that follows a nearly disused rail line south of Santa Fe to the Galisteo Basin. Starting off on asphalt the track then becomes well-graded dirt, and then a real old track. It was challenging but a good day out.

SF 5

We had a whole day together which was a nice change. Drove through the desert to the Bandelier National Monument http://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm which was spectacular. Cave dwellings, incredible canyons, the Rio Grande. As we walked through one deserted deep canyon we heard a loud animal noise; sounded like monkeys or something out of Jurassic Park. We could not work it out, then I looked up and saw skeins of Cranes flying on passage from Mexico up to Idaho for nesting. There are few things more moving for me than Cranes in flight. I scrabbled around for my camera and got it in time for this shot.

SF 4

I checked out a cycle route out of the city on foot first thing, then walked up to the Santa Fe Institute where Danielle and colleagues were concluding their seminar. The Institute is high above the city and the views are sublime. I got roped into taking a photo of the group.

In the evening we had a meal with Oscar and Camila both from Chile both with English connections.

SF 3

Today while Danielle was meeting up again with the group, I drove to Galisteo Basin http://www.galisteobasinpreserve.com/index.php where there is a desert reserve with plenty of walking and cycling tracks. What a place. The scale and the emptiness take my breath away. It is perfect weather too, with some snow still around, but the sun warm in the sky. Yesterday was shorts weather, today not quite.

I spent a lot of time taking photos, I hope I got some good ones to exhibit, Time will tell. In the evening we went for another group meal at a Mexican style restaurant.

SF 2

Whilst Danielle was working hard at the Santa Fe Institute I visited the local Quaker meeting in the morning. A great bunch of people, pretty much identical to Quakers in the UK, in terms of their friendliness and concerns. Two things surprised me; firstly that the meeting was a sell-out, good job I got there early to get a seat. Secondly the meeting house, an adobe style building, is older than our meeting house in York.

After meeting I walked up into the hills on a fantastic network of trails. I really felt at home here, and very happy. I passed another walker who said "I can tell you're OK, by the smile on your face".

In the evening we all went out for a meal at Sam's house [the member of  Core who invited them all to Santa Fe]. We had a great Indian meal then walked back to the hotel. Santa Fe is one of the few American towns I have been in where walking around seems perfectly normal [or at least not totally weird].

SF 1

Saturday we looked around Santa Fe, New Mexico. A great little town with endless art-shops, a good plaza, and surprisingly little tack.
We were there because Danielle is part of the Core Econ group http://www.core-econ.org/ . This was 15 very impressive people from all over the world {Chile, Australia, UK, US, India, Canadian, French} come together to discuss the program. We met up with them all for a meal at a Spanish restaurant. Great group of people, luckily I was sat next to someone who was happy to talk about photography and dance rather than metrics and Keynes.

In town the railroad station area has been done up into a cafe, market type area The line is still used occasionally - here it is.

Do You Know The Way To Santa Fe?

Up at 5,  we walk into the station [less faff than getting a taxi] which would have been fine, save for the disintegrating wheel on the wheelie bag. Just deserts for having such a thing really.
The train is fine. At Donny a woman gets on and sits at our table. She dozes. I am reading a Richard Brautigan book [for book group] which I really love - So The Wind Won't Blow It All Away. I ask Danielle "What's the difference between a Racoon and a Coyote?" Seems a reasonable question to me, but Danielle looks at me as though I am very very stupid. The woman opens her eyes, sees Danielle's expression and bursts out into loud laughter. She finds my question daft as well. Ha ha. Anyway we get talking and she is of an age [i.e older than me] and is on her way to Southend having sold her house in Hull to start a new life with her boyfriend in Southend. We wish her luck.

It is a good start to the day. We get the tube across to Heathrow from Kings Cross and the check in goes fine. I purchased extra leg room for the flight to Dallas, and Danielle is able to sit next to me for free, so all is well. The vege food is great and the noise-cancelling headphones make it a pleasant trip. Dallas airport is something to behold, monorail, four terminals, very modern and it seems to work.

Our flight to Santa Fe New Mexico is something else. A tiny plane, crammed, one flight attendant who is bigger than me and somehow manages to negotiate the cabin carrying drinks etc. Everyone seems pretty happy and we touch down at the smallest airport I have been at. I ask where the car rentals are; a very daft question as there is only one room that serves as baggage retrieval [a static roller table, no carousel, waiting room [departures and arrivals] and car rental. The whole place is adobe style and very old fashioned. I love it. Eventually the car rental guy [he does all the admin, and goes and gets the cars] gets us set up and off we drive into the desert. We get to the hotel in Santa Fe and our heads hit the pillow at 10pm Mountain Time. A 23hour journey.

One of things I did on the plane, was work through my camera manual [a task best left for times and places of no escape]. Here is a shot of Danielle.

Flood Wrap Up

Carrying on with a wrap up of some flood photos. There is something about the way rising water changes everything so completely that appeals to the photographic eye. Here the Ouse has broken its banks although the levee on the left is still just about walkable.

Flood

The sun might be out, but the waters are still high in York.

At prayer

I saw these three men sat at what looked like it had to be a prayer-point. They were on special benches, heads bowed towards a column of light. And it was. The new religion is getting your battery charged [as here] and getting your wifi connection.

Cheers!

We think this an early selfie. Derwood and I used to meet up in various dodgy London pubs through the 80s and 90s. It could be Cambridge circus, it could be downstairs at the Africa Centre.

Open Studios

I am again taking part in York Open Studios in April. Start planning that visit to York now!

Still Flooding

The Ouse is flooding again, it is proving a long wet winter.

Monday Morning

Getting the early train on a Monday morning is fine. I get everything ready the night before, then just roll out of bed, wash, dress, cup of Barleycup, on the bike and off. Today went fine. I arrived at the station, locked my bike, headed to get a coffee … hang on, something is not right. No heavy weight on my shoulders. I have forgotten by rucksack [work, laptop, overnight stuff; indispensable].

Fifteen minutes until the train leaves. I ride back home full tilt, grab the bag, hurtle back to the station, run through the underpass, emerge on the platform, just get on board on time. Relief. Check my heart rate on my phone, “you should consult your doctor”. Thanks for that.

The photo shows three generations of Leeds. The canal, the railway, the modern flats.

Quaker Meeting

This is Hog Walk, one of the dry valleys north of Sledmere in the Wolds, with a rabbit warren across the valley.
Had Jackie & Kevin and Dave & Emma round for a meal - a good evening.
Went into Quaker Meeting together - the sun was shining hotly on our faces in the quiet room. Peaceful.

The Ghostwriter

We watched the Polanski film The Ghostwriter last night. A 70s style conspiracy thriller set in the current day, I really enjoyed it a lot. Plenty of Hitchcockian mise en scene, and some good acting from Ewan McGregor. Satisfying.

Danielle worked from home one day last week - this involved two laptops, a tablet and two phones. Low tech.

Good Fences ...

The volunteers at the Railway Pond are doing excellent work on renovating the whole area. This involves chopping down lots of willow; but rather than just getting rid of it, they are laying these hurdles fences. I think it really good work. Milo is inspecting the craftsmanship.

Thankyou Henry

I was rewarded with this view of the sea at Scarborough on Tuesday after a great ride assisted by Henry [Storm Henry that is].

The Deerhunter [kind of]

Milo sees a deer. Milo chases deer with gusto. Milo is going to catch the deer. Milo thinks "What the hell am I going to do if I catch it?" Milo gets worried, and pretends to be too tired, and backs off. Everyone happy.

Leeds

The River Aire flows right underneath Leeds Station. It is a marvellously dramatic Victorian catacombs that is now home [somewhat inevitably] to bars and coffee shops and walkways: still a memorable place to be where the raw power of nature intersects man's creations.

The Cup

Carlisle were playing Everton in the Cup. Mark is a worryingly obsessive Carlisle fan. To get to Carlisle I can travel by way of the Settle-Carlisle line. The ticket price is £16 for the match. Of course I have to go. What a great day out it was too. Everton are brilliant to watch, totally different planet to Carlisle, but it didn't matter it was still good fun.

Here is the ground filling up with realistically pessimistic fans.

Burns Night

Eddy and Sue had a Burns Night Party on Saturday. We had to read a poem, songs were sung, haggis were eaten. Good fun.