Rainy Day Magic

Extra magical

I'm well known as an incurable optimist. I always try to put a positive spin on events ... so I'm taking good things out of the wet and gloomy (I should say dreich) day we've endured here today.

First, there are droplets! I took this shot this morning on my walk to work along the canal, when the rain abated just long enough for me to get the camera out and capture these bulbous droplets. It's quite extraordinary how big they have grown to be. The chemistry of water is incredibly complex, with the hydrogen bonding that makes this phenomenon possible still not completely understood. It's nothing short of a piece of everyday magic.

Second, when you are going to be stuck at the computer all day it really helps not to have to be looking out on a blue sky. It's been a hard week so far, and the problems arising are proving very difficult to solve. From a selfish point of view, the weather has been perfect!

Third, the bad weather didn't extend as far south as Birmingham, so England were able to enjoy another day of total dominance in the test match. I like my cricket to be more competitive than this to be honest, but I really don't want to complain. I've waited my entire life to see England play as well as this!

Thanks for the positive feedback on yesterday's blip. It's something of a departure for me to use black and white, but this was the perfect image to play with. I was rather pleased with the result myself, and was very happy to see it appear on the spotlight page tonight. I need to carry on working now so apologies in advance for the tardiness in feeding back to you guys. No choice at the moment I'm afraid. Really looking forward to the weekend,