A shot I took several years ago on Sanday Island, Orkney ; a village left to ruin, part of the story of depopulation of the island. In the larger scheme of the island's history it barely registers, a small moment of habitation and abandonment but it's a powerful place nonetheless. The sense of desolatation is palpable. The houses still (largely) stand despite the inhositable climate. There is a sense of community in those tight little boxes, of living cheek by jowl.
It's been a hectic week. Well, couple of weeks - I turned 40 which was great fun - my husband threw a party for me in the local tennis club, complete with 80s playlist and lots of food. It wsa brilliant. I have spent most of the month of November doing Nanowrimo ( I am hopefully going to finish today, I have less than three thousand words to go, however everyone is choosing today to drive me slowly insane and constantly ask me dumb questions...so we'll see.)
I'm busy editing a poetry anthology which also looks like it's going to need some TLC over the next week; and on top of all that is the usual work/life stuff. Oh and Yule/Christmas - which is madness in itself.
Still, it's nice to be busy; I hope to take the camera out over the weekend as we're going to Top Gear at the RDS on Sunday.
There's a great new photography exhibition on at the moment in Stoneybatter at the Joinery - Giita Hammond which we're going to the following Sunday; it opened last night. Really looking forward to it, it's "Vanishing Landscapes" and is centred around the vanishing glaciers of Iceland.
It's such a grey day, I did what I usually do on days like this and searched through the back catalogue for photos that cheer me up. I had forgotten this one, I may even have posted it or a similar one before but hell - this is one of my favourites so I'm posting it.
I've been doing Nanowrimo which is great fun but tends to use up all the time and energy I can spare from work. Also have some poetry coming out this month in an journal and busy editing the PPP first anthology - we hope to have it out just before yule which is ambitious!!
Ah well, time was meant to be squandered and no nicer way to do so than looking through photos...
And we've definitely crossed into winter. The same trees I was photographing only a few days ago has lost all its leaves now; it's dark when I get up and dark when I leave work. But on the plus side, I'm 40 tomorrow and we're having a party :) :) Light a bonfire against the darkening year, or in my case "years" :)
As I approach forty....
This photograph was taken among good friends, in a remote place (Sanday. Orkney) and reminds me of good times and friendship, my spiritual beliefs, magic, wonder, fun and laughter.
The candlelight and medieval food, lovingly created by a good friend, represents my love of history and joy in the past.
Well this is Samhain;
Hallow'een for the general public, the eve of All Hallows or the christian feastday of the dead.
Samhain for some of us, the ancient festival marking the beginning of Winter and the need to prepare for the dark half of the year. At Tara and the Hill of Ward fires would have been lit and from these the chains of bonfires across the great central plains and out to the furthest reaches of the country, or so the poets tell us. The gathering at Tara at Samhain brought together clans for horse trading, games, arts, marriages; the ancestors were honoured and the gods, and the chieftains and the fosterings and alliances. Divinations were made, omens examined.
Over the centuries the christian associations (Feast of the saints, all souls) has beome conflated with the original ideals of Ancestor, and the sense of a liminal time. But underneath the games and the ghost stories, you have the ancient and enduring.
I love the ghostly and ghoulish and the mischief; I also love the older philosophies and tonight, I'll be reaching out to my ancestors, as they once did to theirs...
I was thinking of doing a series of posts on things that remind me of being young...or that represent turning 40...if I come up with anything I'll post it.
I opened the front door and instead of a rosy Autumnal dawn it was freezing cold, wet and windy; I literally wanted to turn tail and hide under the covers. I feel grey. And cold.
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Something I see everyday; the crow stained glass ornament that hangs in our front window. I love crows; and friends tend to give me crow related items. This was bought on a trip to a labyrinth/maze where one can walk a spiral and meditate. The new agery left me cold - I prefer the authentic in ruins to the pretty but prefabricated. However my then flatemate bought me this so it wasn't a wasted trip :)
plus I did realize that when I am filthy rich and have a huge estate (don't laugh, it's only a matter of time before those numbers come up!) I can build my own maze. Mine will have bear pits and mantraps, and maybe some crocodiles.
We're talking about a return trip to Belgium; my family is mainly from the Bruges area and my husband hasn't seen anything outside Brussels so I think a trip to the greater Flemish region would be great....
