It’s not a great photo - it was taken in a hurry at a friends wedding. (I was best man if I rightly recall and I think I do so didn’t really have time to be snapping photos of fish in fountains but there we are.) It reminds me a lot of two illustrations by M.C.Escher - Three Worlds and Rippled Surface.
I still like it.
While at my friends wedding the other weekend, I got distracted by the goldfish in the fountain. It had just started raining and I snapped off a couple of shots to see if I could get a photo something along the lines of M.C. Escher’s drawing, ‘Three Worlds‘
After the last post I really ought to say something erudite about how this picture represents the sun going down on British tolerance, decency and sense after electing four times more UK Independence Party MEPS than they did in 1999 but frankly, it’s just a sunset and I thought it was pretty enough to take a quick snap of it.
There was only occasional sun while on holiday but the beaches were as spectacular as ever. (Shame the photo doesn’t do it any justice!)
There’s a theme developing here. Can you guess what it is yet?
Encountered in the woods behind the house on a long walk to work off much festive over indulgence.
A friday filled with beauty, optimism and relief that tomorrow is the weekend.
A little over five years ago, Dec 4th 1998 to be exact, I saw a space shuttle launch in Florida. It was quite incredible, not least because it was 3am in the morning. The mission itself was a little historic too as it was STS-88, the first space shuttle mission to take a piece of the International Space Station into orbit. The shuttle that flew the mission was Endeavour on it’s 13th mission.
The launch was delayed by a day which was fortuitous because I was in Orlando at the time and could not make it to Space Center that day. The next day I spent the whole day wondering around, marvelling at the achievements that we, the human race, have managed and I was fascinated by the whole history of space exploration. As luck would have it, they rescheduled the launch for that night and I got a ticket straightaway.
Watching the launch from the zone boundary 3 miles away was an impressive site. The launch lit up the night sky but the most amazing aspect of the event was the sound. At first it was just a rumble in the distance, a little like thunder. But as I watched the launch, I could see a ripple effect on the water in front of me and as it hit the land, so too did the wall of sound hit me. It was incredible and not an experience I’m likely to forget.
Since then, the ISS has grown bit by bit and will soon be complete. If you live in England, you will be able to see it next week although it’s unlikely you can see it with the naked eye as anything more than a passing satellite.
