Tag: KindaSquare

Posted on

Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind

Parrot looking over its shoulder

Though I remember going to see the film, I had no idea what the number referred to, so I looked it up. A mere sighting of an alien ship – a close one, mind – is the first kind. The third kind that gave name to the film means seeing an alien. If you speak directly with one, it’s the fifth kind.

It baffles me why we don’t have the same avid fascination to talk to the wild creatures we have on Earth, to find out what they can tell us. You can pooh-pooh this, but if we spent the money collectively invested in looking for the man on the moon to achieve a close encounter of the fifth kind with intelligent life on our own planet, dolphins, say, would we have had a breakthrough by now? Continue reading “Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind”

Posted on

Kinda Bold

Rosebay willowherb autumn colour
Chamaenerion angustifolium (Rosebay willowherb)

Rosebay willowherb is a colonising weed that appeared in the final picture on my recent post about Darwen moor. While few of us who know it would care to cultivate it, I have seen a white form in some fancy gardens. The pink form, shown here, is eminently overlookable, not because it lacks beauty but because of its ubiquity. It would be impossible to take a countryside walk round here without meeting it along the way.

I found these plants growing wild on the edge of farmland and was struck by how lovely they looked in their autumn colours. Early evening light and a blue sky added a little magic. Continue reading “Kinda Bold”

Posted on

Handpainted Metal Chair

Distressed textures | Painted outdoor chair and firewood

Lichen-encrusted kindling tones perfectly with the colour scheme of this Mississippi-style porch chair. To me, its bright, cheerful design looks just as good with the extra textures heaped on by weather’s rust and flaking.

Its owner hurried to brush away the wood when he learned I wanted to take its picture, but I thought it was perfect as it was. Continue reading “Handpainted Metal Chair”