Project 365 day 244: Bollards

No-one seems to know why they gave us bollards, and I haven't heard any gratitude expressed. Most residents seemed a little bemused. They arrived a couple of months ago, bright, shiny and alien, snaking along our muted grey and green summer road. For us, they have the merit of making it difficult for cars and vans to park across the verge and pavement, which surprisingly frequently made it difficult to push J's wheelchair along the footpath to the village. They will also prevent the crowds who drive into the area to watch the famous Boxing Day hunt from parking nose to tail all along the verge, with no respect for driveways or access; if the visitors are forced onto the road, the congestion may be worse, though probably not bad enough to act as a deterrent. For us on Boxing Day, the avoidance options are either to leave home early and not return till late in the day, or more usually to stay indoors  and try not to notice the commotion, preferably not looking out of the back windows, until it's all over. They are no longer allowed to hunt foxes of course, but I still find the baying hounds and their followers upsetting and distasteful. But I digress... Within days, one bollard close to our gateway had disappeared into the hedge, after a neighbour's car somehow reversed into it, knocking it out of the ground without apparently damaging the car. After that, the scarecrow (in extra) appeared with its pop bottle binoculars and "bollard monitor" high vis tabard, an entry to the annual village scarecrow competition. There have been no further incidents and we are all getting used to them, but although they accentuate the curve of the road, I don't think they improve the aesthetic.

This was as far as I managed to go today to capture leading lines for Wide Wednesday. I had other ideas, but could not go out for longer. It was another heavily overcast and damp day, the laundry is drying indoors again, but the trees along the road are always beautiful.