LOCKDOWN WALKS

Ten months on, and we’re still in Lockdown. Who’d have thought?

In some ways, it’s harder now, in some, it’s a little easier – I’ve almost got used to the restricted lifestyle, and am trying to use the time to do stuff I usually don’t have time for – coming to grips with the idea of a blog, for one, dealing with the never-ending task of setting up a website, doing a nice little online course given by Michael Fortune and supported by Wexford’s Art Department, on what wonderful things can be done using a mobile phone! Of course, there’s a steep learning curve involved in all of the above. What is a bit more difficult to manage at this current time is the collaborative part of the project with my good friend Lina Varna – between travel restrictions and different studio set-ups, we are itching to have a real meeting with one another, the sort of think-tank only real sitting over a long period with a cup (or several) of coffee on the go! As to organising the final ‘event’, how does one do that in such an age of uncertainty?

I find myself thinking back to early lockdown times and the most beautiful and stimulating evening/night walks with my old pal, Cleo, who sadly has departed this world in early autumn. I am no longer as regular in my walking routine. There is nothing quite like the look on a dog when she knows it’s time for the constitutional. I’ve observed Winter into Spring, bare branch into blossoms, clouded skies into fabulous sunsets, harvest moons, comets, and satellites circumnavigating the night sky, all thanks to my beloved Cleo. I miss those many quiet and thoughtful moments and can’t quite re-create them on my own. But that’s another day’s work.

For now, I think it is time to take a look at some of the images collected on those early lockdown walks, and feel the awe and inspiration, the sense of life and abundance evident in the urban environment that is home to me. Nature finds a way to thrive if only given half a chance. And roll on Spring, when the weather will hopefully entice me out of my cocoon to give nature a helping hand in the garden, to help create a little wilderness of my own that will encourage wildlife to thrive beside concrete walls. There is nothing quite so uplifting as the chatter of birds and the buzzing of bees as they meander from flower to flower. Happy days!