Not a good day for photography

Wet again, and I didn't go outside at all. Neither did I think about taking any photos until far too late in the day, when such light as was finding its way into the house was already fading. The basket of beach pebbles is part of the clutter on my desk - paperweights, supposedly, but I have far more paperweights than I could possibly need. I just can't resist bringing home pebbles that are pretty and feel good in my hand.

Later in the evening the sky cleared, with a few clouds dramatically illuminated by the half moon, and Orion bright above the valley. When the rest of the household was in bed and I'd switched on the washing machine, I went out to the balcony to see if any of the promised shooting stars were visible. I didn't have high expectations, only intending to look for five minutes, but almost immediately my eye caught a tiny streak of light. I saw at least a dozen in the space of a few minutes, delicate and so fleeting that I constantly questioned if I really was seeing them. They were far less spectacular than the bright and sometimes coloured meteors we've sometimes seen in the August Perseid shower, but in the velvety silence of the North Downs after midnight, their light, glancing motion felt quietly magical.