getting away from it all in the highlands of Scotland

I am on holiday for just a few days, with myself.

OH (my other half) has business to do in China, and I am not invited. He is going with his 'team'.

That means he can be as naughty as he chooses in my absence, and myself and I will try, but probably fail, to be equally naughty.


So for me, a trip to the highlands. The Hebrides via Inverness.

I started with a night near Inverness airport, as flight schedules to Stornaway did not allow otherwise.

The hotel was on a dual carriageway next to Carpetright and a few gorse bushes.

I thought you would prefer to see the gorse.

gorse bush, Inverness

I arrived in Inverness late at night and jumped into a taxi to my hotel.

The taxi driver was meant to be picking someone else up, but he couldn't be bothered to wait for her, so took me instead. As we neared my hotel, the pre-arranged pick-up passenger called him on his phone. He pretended he didn't understand, and she told him she would get the bus.

I felt sorry for her.

And for myself, just relief to be at my hotel; always apprehensive as a single female alone in an unknown taxi when no one knows where I am.

The driver cleaned me out of all my cash, and I disappeared upstairs to bed.

I awoke this morning to sunshine, and a feeling of  happiness at a few days with no particular plans.

I wrote a poem in my notebook about the futility of worrying, had a very good breakfast, and then headed out for a walk and to look for some cash to get me on the bus back to the airport.

OH might have reprimanded me at this point for not having enough cash.

I decided that looking of a cash point was a valid way to spend an hour on a sunny morning..... in such a scenic part of town. And if all else failed, and the bus driver didn't take a card, I still had time to phone for a taxi driver who would.

I headed off down the road lined by car salesrooms that led into town.

It was a colourful route, full of flags and balloons.

The air was fresh and felt extraordinarily clean.

I saw a sign ahead for a petrol station, and was hopeful of a cashpoint.

closed petrol station

Silly me.

This is Scotland, and every single shop is closed on Sundays. As were the car showrooms.

Which made for a very peaceful stroll.

I felt calm and happy despite my urban environment.

I was on my way to one of my favourite places in the world, the island of Harris in the outer Hebrides.

Next I passed Fraser signs.

I was taken by their logo. Mountains and water.... clearly they share my values.

Just not my looks. Or gender.

I couldn't help taking a couple of photos of litter.... plastic trapped in a tree that was about to burst into bud.

But I also found some dandelions and blossom just to show you that I don't only think about litter.

All of this life on an industrial estate.

I got to wondering about how we choose and filter what to show of where we have been.

You may be expecting some artistic photos, that being my passion. But today I choose to show you a bit of real life. Balloons and all.

I could have left out the cars and the bank.

A bank! I hear you exclaim. You found one?

Yes, reader, I found one, hiding next to an old factory.

Happy was I.

I had just begun to give up hope.

Jack fills up with cash

Jack and I stacked up on cash, and it was time to get back to catch that bus.

The worry was over.

the worry was over

And the bus was dead on time.




I made my way to the airport in the morning sunshine, via Tesco and Tornagrain, a new housing estate trying to look like Poundbury.  Brand new houses styled on very old houses and a couple of brand new empty shops.

'a community in the making...' say the developers.
It hasn't happened yet.

I was intensely jealous for a moment of the lady sitting on the bus reading 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine'. It is such a wonderful, unputdownable read. And how come she can read sitting sideways on a bus?  She is a very lucky lady.

I didn't eat at Inverness airport, as I knew the flight might be a bit bumpy.

That was a bit of a mistake, for on arrival in Stornaway airport I remembered that they take Sunday very seriously.

The chiller  cabinet was bare.

And the coffee shop closed.

no food on Sundays in Stornaway airport

I could have done with a sandwich whilst waiting for my hire car.  Irn bru and a Crunchie was not going to do.  I am not that naughty.


But I was calm and happy. Queuing with myself is a perfectly pleasant experience.

 ..... 30 minutes in the queue, 5 customers in front of me, and not a single comment from anyone about how scandalous the wait was. Not a fidget or glance exchanged from anyone.

Everyone so delighted to be in the Hebrides that there was no need to get agitated.

I was last in the queue; a situation that might be frowned upon by certain people...

The wait provided me with time to photograph the dining facilities, to study a town map of Stornaway, and book a table for dinner.

As I said, when travelling with myself, everything is rosy.

And instead of heading out on the road to explore the local area, I slobbed around town, inspected the local fishing nets, drank some tea, had a shower and enjoyed my warm and comfortable accommodation.

arrival at Stornaway airport.

For I am on holiday.

And tomorrow is another day.



                                                                 *************




I'll leave you with some Hebridean trees from Lews Castle.

There are not many trees in the Outer Hebrides, so I felt compelled to record their presence.

on the moon - in which man went to the moon and left some stuff behind

As you know, I am bothered by litter.

Doing some research on the topic I discovered that there is quite a lot of litter (trash) in space, and also on the surface of the moon.

I decided to make a digital book on the topic, using Adobe Publish Online.

This is currently a virtual book; it only exists digitally. Given that it is about litter, it felt appropriate to make a zero impact book.

The images are recycled from NASA. They are available to use freely, with no copyright restrictions at Flickr Commons.

The pages are shown below, but you will get a much richer, page turning experience if you click on this link.

If you would like to read this as a digital book please click here

The full list of artifacts that remain on the moon can be found at

https://history.nasa.gov/humanartifacts.html

Images sourced from NASA on the Commons at Flickr.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons/albums

Where now for a litter obsessed creative ?

 

abstract from someone else's bin

I am back from down under unexpectedly early.

Enjoying the pre-spring sunshine and doing a bit of spring cleaning and pruning in the garden.

All very therapeutic, but a big question looms.

What next, artistically?

I find myself without a project, uncertain of what or why I am doing in my creative life.

So much so, that I have applied for a mentoring session with ABC projects atelier  in the hope of finding some answers and a kick up the back side.

Asked by ABC projects to write why I wanted to do this, I found that the very act of writing made me more aware of some of the reasons behind my dilemma.

I wrote..... that I am no longer satisfied with taking photographs as an endpoint. That I also enjoy making books and writing. Which leaves me wondering what to call myself. Abstract landscape photographer no longer fully describes my intentions. Angry eco warrior fits the bill a bit better right now.

I wrote that I am obsessed with litter and the state of the environment in general.

at my local bus stop - a new source of litter - nitrous oxide chargers

Litter is my problem..... other people around me don't seem to find it troubling.
My frustration is driving OH ( my other half) a bit crazy.

Being angry is unhelpful to my wellbeing, and unconstructive.

So what to do?

I searched for some quotes that might help;

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."

Maya Angelou

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger. Buddha
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/buddha_384547

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger. Buddha
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/buddha_384547

Time to stop complaining.

Change my attitude.

Accept that people often make art about what is most important to them. Go with it.......


But what about my photography, and book making?

How does this fit with my current obsession?

bottle, Moeraki beach

I don't want to keep making photographs of litter. And yet, I don't have anything else that currently drives me.

So I am going to allow litter to take me down new paths, do some research, and see where that leads.

I started with a search of images of litter, garbage and trash on the web that are available for public use.

The titles are often amusing or bizarre; here is one showing evidence that littering rules are sometimes obeyed.....

Evidence That Littering Rules Are Sometimes Obeyed 05/1973, Original Caption: On Coeur D'alene Lake

 I had not thought of other uses of the word, such as a litter of puppies, a litter to carry someone on, or leaf litter in a forest.


There are hundreds of images of hand litters to choose from.

And quite a few litters of puppies, but only one story about a woman, Mary Tofts, who tricked doctors into thinking that she had given birth to a litter of rabbits.

I think she might have come off the set of the recent film, The Favourite.

Mary Tofts, who duped several eminent doctors into believing she had given birth to a litter of rabbits, twelve scenes.

You can see the story in more detail at the Wellcome Collection




And then I came across this lady, luxuriating in bed for an electric blanket advertisement in 1948. We don't get to see the carpet sweeper that keeps dirt and litter in her home at bay, but you can read all about it under the image.

Text Appearing After Image:

Sleep snug and warm under the new light-as-a-jeather Simmons Electronic Blanket (shown above), Dept. J, every blessed part of you feelat peace at last! What a moment! What a moment!And to think that all this comfort is yours nightafter night—not for just a few years—but for at leastTEN years! Thats Beautyrests guarantee! I, Milwaukee 9, only $4£.50 plus excise tax, such a luscious, 

Text Appearing Before Image:

The only carpet sweeper with MOV-O-MATIC Combs thatmove in and out of the brush to keep it clean. Only a cleanbrush can sweep clean! Whisks up dirt and litter in lesstime with less effort! No need to hand-clean brush. No tiring handle pressure. Adjust-O-Matic Brush sweeps with equalease on thick or thin rugs. Wheels never need oil.ng. Ask your dealerKmonSaJon. E. R? Wagner Mfg. Co., toe-wriggling stretch!A warm feeling of repose comes over you. Tensionleaves you. The strain of the day vanishes. Your nerves, W*s. WRGI1ER KOMB-KLEANEPSWEEPER Gette*. Sautoi^PICK-UP © 1948 LADIES HOME JOURNAL April, WAT WONPEZFUL, WOWE&FUL MOMENT/ 1. Its bedtime. Youve had a busy day. You slipbetween the sheets on your new Beautyrest andstretch . . . oli, your muscles

But I digress.

Some litter images are more to the pointof my intended search....

rats love litter

camel litter ( dung) being disposed of by burning

bread mould

 I am heading down a rabbit hole, with no idea where it will lead......

A sad doll story perhaps..

Inside a yellow bin

Roadside garbage....

roadside garbage..... my local litter problem pales in comparison

A fruit fly; up close and personal. Lover of rotting fruit and vegetables.

Inside a blue bin

A dirt road on a glass photographic plate

Some health hints for an air raid shelter

Eutrophication........algal bloom in a lake due to excessive pollution with nutrients

And finally, a couple of vintage photographs, described as being found in a 'trash-picked' book.

A motley collection of images that led me to some amazing resources and digital libraries.

I will save those for next time.

And leave you with an image of Mars from Wikimedia Commons
 

Mars

Which got me thinking that there is no litter in space.....



Until I found this.

Space junk described by NASA

With regards the litter that lines every road that I walk or drive along, I cannot pick it all up, but I do pick up what I can carry, and so far this week I have filled quite a few bags from my local streets.


The M20 is a different kettle of fish.....

And space trash is right out of my reach.

For now.