Magic in the Air

I've been trying to get mind and body coordinated this weekend, both having been a bit out of kilter this last couple of days. My physio gave me permission to try a little running, to see if the adjustments she's made are helping. I was running over the top of the moor when I came across three guys striding out in the opposite direction, exchanging a greeting and a smile with them in passing. My head was stuck very much in its own space, but not completely it seems.

I had run fifty or so yards further on when I suddenly got a 'hit' to turn around and go back to talk them. I walked with these three men for quite a while, chatting away about all kinds of things. One of them was particularly engaging. He was introducing his two friends to his favourite walk, from Saltaire to Ilkley and back. 

As we descended to White Wells I finally got around to asking his name. It was Abdul Rashid. I can't remember exactly what I said in reply but I remarked upon the similarity of his name to Adil Rashid, the England cricketer finally getting a chance and finding his mojo in the current test series against India. It's been great to see a leg spinner get a decent run in the test side and I started telling Abdul that I'd followed Adil for years, that, indeed, the young man was a bit of a hero of mine. Once I'm on the subject of cricket I can rattle on a bit, and I think I did. "I'm sure you must know of him," I suggested. "I do indeed," he replied, pausing a while, "... he's my son."

Just I was saying, "you're kidding me," I took a proper look at his face and realised immediately that it was the truth. And one of his friends was Mohammed Shahzad, father of Ajmal Shahzad, the first British-born Asian to play for Yorkshire, who has also represented England at test level. The cricket talk then flowed and I was so excited that I almost forgot to take any photographs. But I did. Of course! Here's the very proud dad.

My gentle run, magically interrupted by a long and fascinating walk, didn't give me any problems but I was wary of pushing my luck on what was turning out to be a beautiful day. I went back home and straight out again on the bike, for a little ride, trying to keep the rehabilitation going. Cycling invariably helps to sort my head out.

I passed those trees again on the way out and having been told that 11 blips of them is actually not enough (only equating to one every six months), I thought I'd offer you up another version, from the opposite side to Friday's shot. It illustrates rather well the importance of light to photography. In the sun they assume a whole extra dimension.