Wotcha groovers, and I hope today finds you all refreshed and happy after yesterday's bon bank holiday.
As there was no Monday Choose-O yesterday, I'm going to regale you with a little anecdote before telling you my exciting news, so first of all, are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I'll begin.
Shark
Some moons ago, the then-partner-in-crime and I went to stay in a field in Cornwall for a long, bank holiday weekend.
Actually, it was rather more than just staying in a field as it was a DAS holiday, so a load of us, all dressed up as Vikings and Saxons were camping in a private field with an adjoining stone age mound with a round field on top.
It was a fabulous time with two wonderful al fresco banquets underneath the stars with the serenade of crickets, spleepy songbirds and bats for out entertainment.
But that doesn't really have much to do with the story, the next bit does.
As we were not tied to our usual DAS schedule of 'Fight, feast, tidy-up, go home again', the then-partner-in-crime (who for the remainder of the story I shall refer to by his DAS name of 'Wulf', as 'the then-partner-in-crime' is too long to type) and I decided to jump in the car and go explore the surroundings.
We wended our way along windy Cornish lanes, with banks higher than the car covered in wild-flowers blocking our view from time-to time.
After a while the roads became even more narrow, with more twists and turns than a bent corkscrew until at last the banks lowered and we got an amazing view of the sea.
We parked the car in a handy car park and set off explore a tiny fishing village comprising of a church, tea shop, souvenir shop, and a local artists gallery and shop.
After purchasing a couple of Cornish recipe books and a tea towel, we set off beach wards to explore the rock pools as the tide was just going out and as any fule kno, that's the best time to do so.
We clambered about on the rocks and seaweed finding tiny crabs and spotting teeny fish darting between shells and plants, glistening in the sun.
We walked along the shoreline as the sea receded until we came to another group of rocks in the shadow of some cliffs. I scampered about with my camera set to shiny until I spotted a huge fish stranded at the edge of a rapidly emptying pool of water. I called over to Wulf and he came to have a look. I thought it was a goner until it's gills opened and closed, and realizing it was still alive I called to Wulf to help it, PDQ!
He grabbed hold of it and put it into the nearest deepest water we could find.
As we watched our hopes dimmed for a while, but slowly it began to 'breathe' more regularly and it started to regain it's balance. It was then that we managed to get a proper look at it and realized that it was a baby shark; only about a foot and a half long, and really quite pretty being white underneath and sort of dappled pink with spots on top.
We carried on watching it until it finally righted itself fully and it's breathing stabilized, and at last it slowly swam away, off into the ebbing tide and sunset.
Since then I've often thought about the little shark and wondered how it's doing.
Maybe one day I'll go back to Cornwall and find the same beach once more. I'll walk along the water's edge in the sunshine and decide to take a dip in the sparkling sea.
As I float on the waves the same shark will be there too, and in a moment of recognition it will remember me, swim up and bite me on the arse as most things in life tend to do when you try and help them.
And now for the exiting news! (drumroll please)
Yesterday I got a Flickrmail from a friend of mine at The Londonist asking if I'd like to be their press photographer for the Great British Duck Race next Sunday.
This means that I'd have to get there before the start of the race, and join the rest of the paparazzi types in spot where I can get fab shots of the duckies, then stay on the boat and follow on down the Thames with them.
I thought about it for about, oooh, 0.2 seconds before jumping up and down with excitement and screaming 'YESYESYES!'
So, that's what I'll be doing next Sunday.
I'm still doing my Happy Dance.
So how are you all doing, and how were your weekends? Plz to tell all in the box below.
As there was no Monday Choose-O yesterday, I'm going to regale you with a little anecdote before telling you my exciting news, so first of all, are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I'll begin.
Shark
Some moons ago, the then-partner-in-crime and I went to stay in a field in Cornwall for a long, bank holiday weekend.
Actually, it was rather more than just staying in a field as it was a DAS holiday, so a load of us, all dressed up as Vikings and Saxons were camping in a private field with an adjoining stone age mound with a round field on top.
It was a fabulous time with two wonderful al fresco banquets underneath the stars with the serenade of crickets, spleepy songbirds and bats for out entertainment.
But that doesn't really have much to do with the story, the next bit does.
As we were not tied to our usual DAS schedule of 'Fight, feast, tidy-up, go home again', the then-partner-in-crime (who for the remainder of the story I shall refer to by his DAS name of 'Wulf', as 'the then-partner-in-crime' is too long to type) and I decided to jump in the car and go explore the surroundings.
We wended our way along windy Cornish lanes, with banks higher than the car covered in wild-flowers blocking our view from time-to time.
After a while the roads became even more narrow, with more twists and turns than a bent corkscrew until at last the banks lowered and we got an amazing view of the sea.
We parked the car in a handy car park and set off explore a tiny fishing village comprising of a church, tea shop, souvenir shop, and a local artists gallery and shop.
After purchasing a couple of Cornish recipe books and a tea towel, we set off beach wards to explore the rock pools as the tide was just going out and as any fule kno, that's the best time to do so.
We clambered about on the rocks and seaweed finding tiny crabs and spotting teeny fish darting between shells and plants, glistening in the sun.
We walked along the shoreline as the sea receded until we came to another group of rocks in the shadow of some cliffs. I scampered about with my camera set to shiny until I spotted a huge fish stranded at the edge of a rapidly emptying pool of water. I called over to Wulf and he came to have a look. I thought it was a goner until it's gills opened and closed, and realizing it was still alive I called to Wulf to help it, PDQ!
He grabbed hold of it and put it into the nearest deepest water we could find.
As we watched our hopes dimmed for a while, but slowly it began to 'breathe' more regularly and it started to regain it's balance. It was then that we managed to get a proper look at it and realized that it was a baby shark; only about a foot and a half long, and really quite pretty being white underneath and sort of dappled pink with spots on top.
We carried on watching it until it finally righted itself fully and it's breathing stabilized, and at last it slowly swam away, off into the ebbing tide and sunset.
Since then I've often thought about the little shark and wondered how it's doing.
Maybe one day I'll go back to Cornwall and find the same beach once more. I'll walk along the water's edge in the sunshine and decide to take a dip in the sparkling sea.
As I float on the waves the same shark will be there too, and in a moment of recognition it will remember me, swim up and bite me on the arse as most things in life tend to do when you try and help them.
And now for the exiting news! (drumroll please)
Yesterday I got a Flickrmail from a friend of mine at The Londonist asking if I'd like to be their press photographer for the Great British Duck Race next Sunday.
This means that I'd have to get there before the start of the race, and join the rest of the paparazzi types in spot where I can get fab shots of the duckies, then stay on the boat and follow on down the Thames with them.
I thought about it for about, oooh, 0.2 seconds before jumping up and down with excitement and screaming 'YESYESYES!'
So, that's what I'll be doing next Sunday.
I'm still doing my Happy Dance.
So how are you all doing, and how were your weekends? Plz to tell all in the box below.
posted by Misty at 26.8.08
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