First blip

I've been lurking here for about a year now, after seeing the lovely HarlingDarling and keibr in Portugal last October and getting the hard sell about the wondrous bounties of Blip (see here, here, and here). They convinced me to join, but I've rarely commented and have yet to post.

Coincidentally, I am sitting beside a window at which hangs a small crystal that HarlingDarling gave me, to help “light my way” in deciding what to do with the next part of my life, or something like that. It currently basks in the faint glow of a damp autumnal Scottish day, thank you very much. As do I, I suppose.

Well, it's a year on and I've not yet made any major changes to my life, or sorted things out at all really. But my need to choose a new path is feeling a bit more urgent now. So perhaps this would be an interesting point at which to start a more structured record, in the form of a Blip photo log. Let's see.

I also think I'm looking for a greater sense of community, and I want to see if that's something that actively participating in Blip can give.

As things stand, I make no promise to post on any kind of regular schedule. But if one thing's true, it's that I'm a prolific photo-taker, and rarely does a day go by in which I don't take a photo. My photo library contains well over 200,000 items, which is over 30 for each day of my adult life. So if I don't post, it's not for lack of photos.

Yesterday (ie the date of this post; I'm writing it the day after, on the 16th) brought the end of my adventure at the Glen Prosen hostel. I would've been happy to stay longer, but I'd had five nights already and I reminded myself that it's nice to leave somewhere wanting more. I can return soon if I'm really craving it. Anyway, I'd run out of coffee. What's more, the weather yesterday was dry and tame, whereas rain was forecast to move in afterwards - as it indeed has. And I'm certainly one to avoid cycling in the rain, if at all possible. That made up my mind.

I set off for the 45 mile ride back to Perth at around 11am on my heavily loaded touring bike, with the aim to get back before dark without feeling rushed. I just about managed that. I was listening to some old episodes of The Two Matts and We Can Do Hard Things from the summer as I went along, just because that's what I was fancying.

It was a very dull day without even a hint of sunshine, but the air was reasonably calm, the lanes were relatively quiet, and I was dressed well for the 10º air, so it was pleasant to be out and in my saddle. The trees were full of wonderful greens and yellows and oranges and browns, as well as being home to many birds – I felt like I heard and saw many more buzzards and great spotted woodpeckers than usual. And yet another red squirrel. Lucky me! There were quite a few potato fields being harvested too.

The photo is from a little bridge that crosses the River Isla a few miles east of Alyth. The colours were particularly striking in this little gorge.

My route put me in a slightly strange, reflective mood – I passed through or near Alyth, Meigle, Ardler, Coupar Angus, Kinrossie, Balbeggie, and many place in-between, which I'm quite familiar with and yet I haven't been to these places in a long time; some not since my short stint living in Coupar Angus over twenty years ago. It made me happier to be there than I expected, despite the weather and the heavy traffic on some of the A- and B-roads that dominate the landscape.

The last five or tens miles back into Perth was a bit of a slog, but I made it back, although with little energy for anything else beyond eating and messaging.