I miscounted this morning and thought this was our 8th spring in Dorset when it is in fact our 9th, but the difference is slight, and the sentiment all the more significant as a result. I heard a cuckoo – the first I have heard here. It was far-off, and came through the thick ofContinue reading “Cuckoo”
Curled up
January. A thick head and heavy limbs. Uncomfortably numb. Comfort comes in sleep. A gentle drift into dreams. They aren’t always pleasant, and many are bizarre and untouchable, but my subconscious is kinder to me now than my conscious. No guilt for not doing, for spending too long in bed. For not being gratefulContinue reading “Curled up”
Autumn winds
I made an unexpected return to the Wye valley a week or two back. A celebration for Nick’s 50th to which I was generously invited. I only fished for the final couple of days but missed very little earlier in the week. On the Monday, Nick and Tony had arrived to find a river inContinue reading “Autumn winds”
Butterfly Summer
Water drips from the gutter edges and streams down the bulge of the waterbutt. The ridge beyond the field just a vague blur behind a screen of rain. Its welcome, to some degree, although perhaps not in such instant quantity. The woods where I walked last evening were dusty and bare, a few withered chanterellesContinue reading “Butterfly Summer”
Garden Party
Spring has sunk into high summer. Days of hot sunshine and sneezes, the air thick with pollen and a rapidly expanding grasshopper orchestra. My time has been stretched. A new issue of Fallon’s Angler has been tied up and released, a sample chapter for a potential project picked at and almost certainly over-scrutinised. A newContinue reading “Garden Party”
Bloodlines
Such is the power of the current Brexit storm, that any issue unconnected (and many things connected) is swept out of thought almost as soon as it comes to mind. And having turned the most complex of sociological and economic issues into a straightforward question of ‘Yes or No’, it seems that every pointContinue reading “Bloodlines”
Reality
I have come to realise that I do not much enjoy living in ‘interesting times’. If that is indeed what we can call the now. We are certainly living in a time of confusion. And mess. Working twice as long for half as much, and then waking to discover that yesterday we hadn’t even beenContinue reading “Reality”
Wye do we fish?
A week ago I was heading north-west with Chris and Merv, the passenger window down and a familiar tale of footballing woe emanating from St Mary’s via the speakers of the car radio. The day was soft and hazy. The sun warm and the breeze light. We chatted, laughed and spoke excitedly of the fishingContinue reading “Wye do we fish?”
Perfect Air
The first brush of autumn frost glistened beneath this morning’s sunrise. Nothing too hard, certainly not enough to drop any fruit from the hedgerows, but a glittery crunch that made me shiver as I peered out the window to a new day. It soon vanished as the Sun cleared the ridge to the south ofContinue reading “Perfect Air”
Quiet
Nearly three months have passed since I last walked the Common. I’ve been frequently tempted, particularly when I have woken early and the air has been fresh. The prospect of a parachuting tree pipit always stirs me, especially against a backdrop of willow warblers and whitethroat. But then I remember the ticks, and my skinContinue reading “Quiet”
Kevin Parr 