Verticals 4: Fag end

I nearly didn't take my camera to work today because I had my head set on a bookish theme to join in the blipping for World Book Day. I like books and although I struggle to get through them myself, I don't very often miss reading to Ewan and Ellen before bed.

But I did take my camera and I'm delighted that I did because I've been on the lookout for one of these all week. I had resigned myself to maybe getting one of those outdoor ashtrays with sand in them, with a number of not quite vertical fag ends standing like an old smoker's teeth. I couldn't have wished for a more perfectly upright specimen than this. A bit of bright red lipstick would have been rounded the whole thing off to perfection. The lack of lipstick and the place of its disposal tells me it was a bloke.

So 7.45am, Shandwick Place by the traffic lights near Northern Rock and I'm standing with a macro lens peering at this guy about 2 inches away as the commuters stroll by looking and wondering. He was still there when I passed on the way home. I must confess that I'm insanely proud of this one. If taking photos of fag ends is good enough for Irving Penn, it's way good enough for me.

Late post tonight. My wee lad jumped out of a tree and broke his arm so it's been an evening at the hospital. But now I'm having a beer and catching up with my subscriptions.