Indian Summer. Early Morning

There are a few benefits to starting the working day early and they are often the things that add that extra sparkle to your day.

This morning at about 7.30 I was greeted by the sight of the sun rising over the Tower of London. The air was still and warm, you could still hear birdsong over the noise of the traffic, there was almost no one else about. It was as near to a perfect morning as I have seen on a work day.

On a day like today, even a station looks good.

With the continued good weather I am spending time looking at ordinary sights from a different perspective. Because the weather is so fabulous so late in September, there is a light that just would not be seen during the proper Summer months. It is imparting something special on to the ordinary, making the extra ordinary.

Very special. Look around you for other special sights.

Indian Summer

I have to say I am finding our weather very strange these days. There was a time when summer arrived in late May and hung around, more or less, until late August or early September. For the last couple of years we seem to have had most of our summer by early May, then we have a strange mix of Spring and Autumn (including leaf drop some years), then in late September we have another visit from the 'Summer Fairy'. Don't get me wrong, I would rather we had this than no summer at all.

Could someone please let me know what is going on. I am getting confused and have no idea what I am meant to be wearing from one say to the next.

You Ask, Quietly

I spotted this in a gents' outfitters yesterday and have been thinking about it since then:

You don't take a photograph, you ask, quietly, to borrow it.

This set my mind going in a number of ways. Firstly, thinking about photos generally, do we ever ask if we can take, let alone borrow, a photo these days? Time was, and in some cultures still is, that taking a photo was thought as a way of stealing your soul.

Secondly, I have been thinking about the difference between 'taking' and 'quietly asking'. So many of us assume we have a 'right' to do a thing or have a thing, when did we last ask, quietly, if it would be OK to do so?

I shall have to think about how I can build that into my life and so more quiet asking.

(Sorry about the finger over the lens.)

Much Better

After the slightly fuzzy photo yesterday, here is a better one of the same wonderful sight. This is what getting close to home looks like for me. And today more than most; tomorrow I do not make this journey, so this is doubly wonderful.

Getting There

When you have had one of those really long days and really want to get home, it is good to see a sight that lets you know you are nearly there. This is that sight for me.

Getting there, nearly home!

Getting There