De Crespigny Park, London, SE5
Standing tall and proud, basking in their sunlight, ready to be presented with their medals, these shining examples of Amazingness will hopefully be an inspiration to all plants out there thinking of being brave and just a little bit naughty.
Although there has been some controversy as to whether the gold medal winner did or didn’t fail a recent drugs test…
Benhill Road, London, SE5
Whilst admiring the leafy lines enveloping this box and wall it occurred to me that perhaps what I was witnessing was a whelming. To describe the situation as overwhelming seemed overdramatic (or would it just be dramatic?), especially as it will be a far more appropriate description in a few weeks time – when the box and wall have been fully engulfed by a proliferation of leaves. But for now, was a whelming occurring? Is this even a word?
The dictionary says Yes! Whelm almost means the same as overwhelm but with a less panicky, desperate feeling. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that the wall and box currently think they are being overwhelmed, but they’ll soon discover what overwhelmed really means.
I’m rather enjoying the whelming stage though. There’s still space to enjoy the dark delicate structures of stem, the reds and greens of fresh new leaves, the baby blue of the box and the orange insulating spray foam ‘flowers’.
Gordon Road, London, SE15
I’ve been practising handstands lately.
Unfortunately I haven’t yet progressed beyond needing a wall to support my feet, so am unable to upside-down myself at will on the discovery of a puddle…but if I could, this is what I would have witnessed this morning…
…a leaf-shaped fairy anointing all and sundry with some happy magic, each tap of her wand accompanied by a bright yet very quiet ‘ping’ noise.
35,000 feet above the English Channel
As if it isn’t amazing enough to be sitting watching movies, eating a cooked breakfast and drinking a cup of tea, whilst zooming through space and time 35,000 feet above sea level, cocooned inside a surprisingly ordinary flying machine.
When, having travelled through seventeen hours of non-stop darkness, finally we come around to the sun’s side of things once again, glorious oranges and pinks glint off hard metal and soft clouds bathe in the warm glow.
Clouds which I can see not only the tops and sides of, but sometimes even the insides of – clouds which are big and bumpy and fabulous, which fill me with such excitement that if it weren’t for my seatbelt there’s no way I’d be able to stay sitting down.
Then to top it off I discover tiny frost crystals have formed on the aeroplane window!
The magnificently minuscule and the monumentally massive. Both giving as good as they get.
Crownfield Road, London, E15
I feel rather attracted to walls such as this one, sporting an adornment of glass shards. There’s something strangely compelling in the contrasting displays of aggression and sculptural beauty, as the colourful spikes glint in the sunshine to warn you off a closer encounter.
This wall seemed quite unusual with its incorporation of upturned bottle necks. I crossed the road for a closer inspection as I imagined the angry joy experienced whilst smashing these bottles, happy in the knowledge that they will soon be helping people to KEEP OUT!
Once there I found this sweet surprise: little mosses making their homes safely sheltered inside the broken bottles.
‘What are you doing?! I live here!’ demanded a man, as I stood in the shelter of the wall reviewing my photographs.
‘Enjoying these’ I said, pointing out the mossy delights and showing him a photo I’d taken for good measure.
He laughed, surprised and uplifted.
‘I thought you were a spy!’ he said as he left.
Cazenove Road, London, N16
This heavily pregnant conker was briefly destined for billboard-sized stardom. I found it sitting atop a hedge whilst I searched for suitable subjects to photograph for a commission for a new antenatal unit at Homerton University Hospital. It turned out to be a very suitable subject, and this image initially got chosen to grace a full top-to-bottom wall in the reception area of the new unit.
Disappointingly it was later decided that the wall in question is to remain empty…but all is not lost as there are four other superbly huge walls to be filled with other of my images. However, I love this beautiful shiny conker, ready to burst forth on its own personal life journey, so I’m sharing it here.
As I look at it I imagine what might occur once it has fully emerged from its protective casing. Quite possibly it will take a tumble, falling through the gaps in the hedge upon which it currently rests, bouncing downwards until it crashes onto the pavement below.
And then what might befall it?
Might it be immediately crushed by the footsteps of a passing pedestrian or kicked onto the road to be squished by the wheels of a car? Could its gleaming perfection be noticed by a child who will fix it to a piece of string and fight for it to be crowned ‘Best Conker’? Or will it be taken to a good home, placed on a window sill and admired? Perhaps it will provide sustenance to a hungry squirrel; or could it be one of the lucky ones, could it find its way onto a nourishing patch of soil, germinate and grow into a tall and proud horse-chestnut tree?
Having been considering this conker’s future, I was delighted to discover the similar, yet massively more dramatic emergence and subsequent fall of a Barnacle Goose gosling, whilst watching the new David Attenborough nature documentary – “Life Story”.
Barnacle Geese nest on the very top of exceedingly tall rocky columns in Greenland. This is where the goslings hatch from their shells…only to find themselves just two days later free-falling, their little undeveloped wings spread-eagled, having made a phenomenal leap of faith.
If you haven’t seen this two-minute long bit of tv, then watch it! It’s simply wonderful.
