Shrine

That oddest of recent things, a morning lacking both heat and flood, an invitation to run away and have a wander around xianshan. The news has been carrying snake warnings of late but didn't mention the bumper crop of lizards which have appeared... not so many of the blue tailed variety , more of the copper coloured metallic ones,  surprisingly good at jumping from approaching feet, a reckless flurry of reflected light as they somersault into leaves gathered along the side of the paths and covering the steep slopes where the mountain cats prowl...

Down towards the Buddha shrine to say my hellos, entering into a staring match with a yellow sided lizard until it pounced upon some insect who'd made the fatal mistake of thinking that it was distracted. Further along at the big Taoist temple it's busier today, believers gathered, offering some sense of scale where one of the local gods sits gazing across the valley towards an overgrown path where cartoon Buddhas reside ...