Ups and Downs

First of all, congratulations to Richard Donkin who made the very first comment on yesterday's puzzle and got it exactly right. It was a shot of the bark of the Himalayan Birch (Betula utilis). The white bark of the tree has a paper like texture and was used in ancient times for writing Sanskrit scriptures and texts. It was hard to resist the temptation to peel a few pages off last night! It's a bit like peeling wallpaper. I'm sure it would have been very satisfying in I'd given into the urge.

Richard has a great journal. You should reward him with a visit, especially those of you who thought I'd blipped my shirt! Surely you know me better than that!

As yesterday was like a winter day (complete with hailstorms and cold driving rain), today was like a summer day. Almost wall to wall sunshine. I should have been able to savour every moment but it's been difficult. I have to acknowledge that I'm feeling a lot of stress at the moment. There is so much thinking going on that it's been hard to allow in all the beauty surrounding me all day.

So a bit of a down for me, and also for Forrest. I hope he won't mind be blipping this today as a counterpoint to last Sunday's Match Winner. This is cricket, mirroring life, as it so often does. Forrest had scored back to back hundreds for his university team and was set to hit a third in a midweek match when he pulled a hamstring. He had to drop out from the first team game and made himself, less than half fit, available to the seconds. He wasn't able to do himself justice, barely able to jog between the wickets. Just before he was bowled he did at least hit a straight six which boomed past by ears. He packs a bit of power in those forearms! It was still a long and lonely walk off the pitch. It always is.

We're both looking forward to an upturn now.