Friday, February 22, 2008

Stopping Off to look at the View

One of the pleasures of my job (there aren't that many believe me)is the driving. Take today for example. I had a meeting in Buxton first thing and then I was off to Flagg, a small village a few miles outside. The meeting was at a farmhouse and as they were in the process of converting the inside and the outside,the place was full of dust and men carrying things with purposeful looks on their faces. The sort of looks that people who are doing serious DIY put on to faze chaps in suits like me that would not know a piece of 2 by 4 if it leapt up and whacked him on the head. So it was quite a short meeting, which was fine by me. Driving back I dawdled along the lanes. A kestrel swooped down from a tree and after the briefest of hovers crashed onto some small suspecting creature in the field. I pulled over and got out to have a look, but it was windy and raining so I got back in the car smartish. (I'm a fair weather bird watcher!) A little further along a flock of Goldfinches gambolled and played around some bushes chasing this way and that. It seemed it was just for the pleasure of it but I suspect there was some deeper motive to do with impressing other Goldfinches of the opposite sex. After all spring is approaching. I made a mental note to put the binoculars in the car ( I am always making a mental note to do this and I always forget. Its my age I guess. I can quite happily remember who played in the Bath team against Leicester in 1984, but trying to remember to take the binoculars with me i the car is beyond me. Anyway I stopped briefly in a lay-by to look at the view. The grit stone hills gave way to the gentler limestone, criss-crossed with stone walls and the bumps and humps left by the lead miners all those years ago. Even with the grey clouds driving across the sky and the rain slanting towards me, even with the wind rocking the car, its a beautiful place to live and work. Sometimes I just need to stop off and appreciate it. My phone hummed at me. Back to work then.

9 comments:

fiwa said...

That sounds so beautiful - I am so jealous. Just miles of freeway here. Ok, well, and one gorgeous lake, but it's been too dark on the drive home to see that in ages.

The Birdwatcher said...

Fiwa - It will be good when the evenings get lighter.

Malcolm Cinnamond said...

Forgetting the binoculars. Thank God it's not just me. Flocks of goldfinch sound like a treat. I've only ever seen ones or twos.

The Birdwatcher said...

Malc - It was a really lovely surprise especially on a grey day.

Rol said...

You have to make time for these moments, especially in the working day. Otherwise, what's it all about?

fiwa said...

*knock, knock* Hello? Anybody home?

The Birdwatcher said...

Hello, been away for a while metaphorically not literally,back soon.

Malcolm Cinnamond said...

Oh good. I'll not send the obit to The Times then.

Everything OK?

The Birdwatcher said...

Malc - Nothing that not having to do the job I do can't cure. Still at least it pays the mortgage. For now at any rate, but that doesn't seem a justification for getting up in the morning.