12th May from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth
Strong chilly breeze and the day rotates through grey sky and blue sky and heaping clouds and smudging white whisps. In places the bracken is over a metre tall now. A lone figure throws bread for the gulls. We all know that feeding the gulls is bad, both for them and for us. A diet of white bread is not what the gulls innards are designed for and it distracts them from their natural fishing habits. At the same time it teaches them to be here turning the rubbish bins out and causing a general nuisance. And yet some folk feel drawn to do it. Those who seek living companionship for a few moments. Or who see something in the swirl and glide of the enormous birds overhead that lifts them above a mundane world they have no other way of escaping.
From 12th May 2022
The blue sky at dawn was soon covered as wodges of grey cloud drifted down. But it was still warm enough for the first paddle of the year. Throughout the day, the sun has managed to peep out enough to cast shadows on the path before the lumpy masses of cloud have slid back. Everything is green and fresh and the buttercups are almost luminous in their buttery intensity. The waves grumble and sigh in a sort of passive aggressive way. Pairs of great tits hurtle in and around the branches of the pines, occasionally stopping to provide a few bars of song. The council have been carefully not mowing some of the wilder spaces which means we have had a spring of growth taller than I have seen before but, sadly, in order to keep the paths clear a worker has trimmed the edges which has meant the demolition of the tall stand of mallow which would have flowered very soon and to which I was looking forward. #bournemouth #westcliffgreen #may #spring
From 12th May 2011
The sea is blue all the way to the horizon. The scent of new mown grass from the West Cliff where the Tai Chi-ers are out in strength. They seem to be having a holiday here from abroad - a different group from the old people, conference delegates, families and drunks of the Lonely Planet.
