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An Evening In The Countryside


caldrail

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Yesterday evening the weather was warm and sunny, tempered by a cool westerly breeze. I enjoy a hike into the country now and then, and in order to try for an atmospheric or dramatic sunset photograph, I climbed the torturous footpath up to Burderop Ridge. Getting photographs like that isn't as easy as it sounds because nature invariably displays its best when you're least prepared, but lets try nonetheless. So I found a comfortable grassy spot overlooking the local countryside.

 

The first event was a mechanical rushing noise behind me. At first I thought it was a lorry on the back road, then realising it couldn't be, I turned around as two army helicopters flew by a few hundred yards away at treetop height, turning to overfly wroughton airfield before I lost sight of them. Well that was certainly dramatic, but my cantankerous camera refused to switch on. Typical.

 

After that helicopter flypast, I wondered if nature was going to able to better it. I waited for the sun to go down. There were birds flying around, mostly pidgeons, but then one hawk flew over the top of me slowly, very low, beating its wings powerfully against the wind. My jaw dropped in suprise at being so close to a bird of prey in the wild. Its less than ten feet away! Quick! Get a shot! (fumble) Oh no, I don't believe it, the camera is playing up again! I sat and watched helplessly as the bird of prey swung right and swooped down the incline out of sight.

 

To be honest, the photos I did get were lacklustre. Compared to the ones I should have got, they were rubbish. Nature had done what it always does - displayed its best when I wasn't ready.

 

UFO Incident of the Week

Mind you, that helicopter flypast might have been a top secret mission to intercept UFO's. Don't laugh, the army have been reporting them just lately. Well, in order to save the government several million pounds worth of investigation, it was only me and the camera... Must have been the flashlight... Sorry guys...

 

Talking About Nature...

Shame about the photo's but never mind. It was a lovely evening, watching the cropfields ripple in the wind, clouds drifting by, birds wheeling overhead. At least it was until the sun went down. Up on the ridge, without shelter from the wind, it got very chilly, very quickly. Once I was back down amongst the hedgerows and trees, it was noticeably warmer. Just a reminder how harsh the climate can be in exposed places, even in summer.

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Still, it sounded like a pretty scene, calm and inviting. I used to watch the hawks and falcons at the old house, gliding the breezes until they saw tasty bit of prey below. It is a great sight!

 

As for the weather...doesn't it make you wonder at times what life really would be like without our modern creature comforts? I mean, sturdy boots, warm jacket, flashlight...I know they're more modern versions of what people had before, but it still seems to make it all bearable.

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Modern life is suprisingly cossetting isn't it? I see people wandering around at night in shirtsleeves, even in winter. To some extent, its down to age, because these young lads are behaving a bit macho and a jacket is a sweaty encumbrance in a nightclub, and in any case, being young they're better able to shrug off the cold. But its not just that. Radiation heat from asphalt and whatever other source in urban areas makes cold weather that much more bearable. Thing is, that evening showed me a startling difference in temperature gradient, plus what amounted to wind chill. Its summer for crying out loud, and there I was, pulling out a padded jacket from my rucksack to keep warm. I suspect a country dwelling person would have ensured his comfort instinctively - such concerns would be natural to him, since thats the enviroment he's familiar with. I'm a visitor to the countryside, so I need to think ahead a little more carefully. But, as they say, you can get used to anything.

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