“Spring Leaves” — Spring leaves, Botanical Gardens at Royal Victoria Park, Bath.
More than once I have mentioned that when we travel we like to just head off in interesting directions and wander, not sure of what we’ll see. It isn’t that we don’t view the main, iconic sites of the cities we visit — we don’t just limit ourselves to those places. Sometimes the wandering is very productive. We see places and sometimes people we’d miss in the tourist areas, and we can often find spots that are less crowded and hectic. I made this photograph in one of those places.
“Max Headroom 14 Feet” — A roll-up garage door in an alcove, Aberdeen.
Our May visit to Aberdeen, Scotland marked a transition on our trip. We had just completed a week-plus driving tour of Northwest Scotland, where we spent a lot of time in rural and wild areas. After returning our rental car in Inverness, we went straight to the station and boarded a train to Aberdeen, where we planned a quiet stop before heading on to Ireland. Why Aberdeen? Patty had visited the city decades ago when she went to the UK for an international orchestra festival. She wanted to return and see what she might remember of Aberdeen.
If my memory is correct (no guarantees!) we were out for a walk in Bath — probably looking for something to eat — when I saw these remarkable weathered doors across the street. Their purpose remained a mystery to me — the doors were closed and there were no signs. It is hard to say if they are even still in use. But the distressed surfaces of the wooden doors got my attention, along with the odd set of colors — pink, virtually blood red, and black.
“Cotswolds Forest Clearing” — A break in the trees lets sunshine into a clearing in a Cotswolds forest.
During spring the woodlands and fields and pastures of the Cotswolds are very bright and green… if it isn’t raining. Of course, it is the rain produces all of that green. We had our share of sunny days, but we also experienced the rain — generally light and transitory, but a bit more substantial on the final day of our weeklong walk. This scene was midway through the walk, where the path crossed green hill, the trees opened up a bit, and the sun shone in.
