29th April from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth

Thin grey sky and a blue misty horizon. The sea is soothing and calm. People are on the beach. It is a warm day but the air is still fresh. Blackbirds sing from almost every tree and their voices echo around the pine wood. The hazel is in full soft green leaf. The shadows are dark and inviting and the benches are ready for the morning occupants.

From 29th April 2022

I've noted before how subdued everything seems on a cloudy grey evening. As though the clouds themselves eat up any extraneous sound. Oddly this seems to make other, particular sounds stand out. Voices in the distance. A single dog bark. Individual waves on the shore. Each is given a value quite different from the daytime hustle and bustle of sound. I become aware of individual birds singing without the the general steady background that usually makes them members of a choir rather than soloists like tonight. A small child, hat pulled down over her ears and a pink gilet against the chill toddles up the path, arms flung wide. Ecstatic at being part of the big world . But then she turns and realises how far she is away from her Daddy. She scoots back to him and he gathers her up in his arms and they are happy to be part of their own smaller world. #Bournemouth #westcliffgreen #April #spring

From 29th April 2014

Where the low grey cloud meets the mist out to sea a lobster potter emerges and disappears into the murk. On either side of the cliff top path two warblers dispute territory in a fierce but polite duel where each lets the other finish before starting their frenzied calls for the other to clear off. Ramsons spill out through the fence. A magpie struts and frets his hour on the rain soaked grass. On the sand far below I can see that someone loves Toni enough to write it in letters ten feet tall. A vixen has overturned a bin but the pickings are so thin that even the gulls are ignoring it disdainfully. A pigeon coos. Good morning to you all.

Later

On my way home, leaning on the rail, I have to take time to gaze out across the bay. The soot black night is peppered with a million and one stars. Or is it a million and two? I have lost count. Here on earth is only the barest breeze and the gentle wash wash of the tide.

From 29th April 2011

The barometer dropped a couple of points and down came the rain in torrents.