solid backsides

two solid backsides

inch uphill

lorries overtaking

April haiku

Written to prompts from Carole McRury, which were posted on NaHaiWriMo page of Facebook in April:

April 1 - smooth

slippery promises

deftly made

slide into smooth lies

April 2 - empty

bright colours 

glittering foil

hollow chocolate

April 3 - delta

fertile soile

Ganges provides

catastrophic floods

mother Ganges

collects her children

whose love may destroy

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57568802/massive-hindu-celebration-turns-deadly-on-ganges-river/

mother Ganges
draws in her children
with a fatal love

April 4 - celestial

sweeping the sky

a fading comet

trails long hair

April 5 - special place

too many to count

my special places

live in my backpack

April 6 - sport

a tennis match

suspense and drama

denouement unknown

April 7 - precipice

inch by inch

nearer the edge

he spreads his wings

April 9 - sound

cuckoo cuckoo

hello summer

are we nearly there?

-

one swallow

plus one cuckoo

make spring at least

April 19 - dark

morning light fades

untimely moondark

total eclipse

April 23 - time

counting the hours

as minutes run free

the one-handed clock

April 30 - mountain

another peak bagged

highest in county

molehill with a view

trains

We leave the village, walk downhill, past a bench surrounded by primroses and daffodils. Over a stile and into fields where chocolate-coloured cows graze peacefully, their calves alongside or lying sleepy in the sun.

Our route is clear ahead, and in the near distance a raised railway track follows the valley floor from east to west.

We hear the rumble and thunder of an approaching train – it’s bright livery flashes through gaps in the sparsely leaved trees. Almost as soon as it’s there it’s gone.

train’s crescendo

diminuendo

silence returns

Before we reach the railway line three more passenger trains and a goods train charge by, shattering the peace, but briefly.

On other walks the insistent roar of traffic on our motorways cuts off conversation, renders impossible any awareness of the sounds of nature and hammers our ears as we approach, cross by bridge or tunnel, and finally experience the relief of leaving it behind us.

How many trucks and cars would it take to replace those trains?

A pretty bird, the wheatear

wheatear's white arse
flashes in fields
at vine flower time

Will she slay dragons?

Will she slay dragons?
Will she write plays?
Eilidh's 9 today.

Happy Birthday!

Easter Eggery

Harry and I decided to keep up the tradition of an Easter Day picnic and egg-rolling.  This has been a moveable feast - from the inclined plane at Foxton Locks in the days before they renovated and info-boarded the place to the field road from Hallaton to Goadby with detours via Bolton Bench near Lymington and the car park for Hallaton bottle-kicking.
This year was on the snowy and cold field road again.

egg sketching

egg rolling

egg bouncing

painted eggs roll

through the years

devoured with relish

I will seek photos of Easters past . . .