It feels like no time since I was writing my previous post here, but that was a few weeks ago, just before we were about to have a two week-long break. It’s a funny thing having a holiday when you don’t have work to return to. Obviously, you’re carrying the worry and all the uncertainty with you. But we had day trips and long coastal walks in the evenings. We went to Fife and Perthshire and the Trossachs. We didn’t do everything we’d planned, but that’s life when you’re feeling a bit tired and stressed, right? I thought I’d blog throughout the break, but ended up editing photos from our walks, and once I’d done that I wasn’t tempted by any more screen time. And that was fine.
When I shared this photo on Instagram, I asked: where is this? Is it France… or Fife? Anyone who knows me would know the answer pretty easily, but while this is indeed Fife – Cambo Gardens within Cambo Estate, which is one of our favourite places to visit – it could as easily be a wonderful old farmhouse in France.
There’s a lot to appreciate about spring, obviously, but, for me, these moments are the ones that shift the whole feel of a week: when it’s light enough to head down the coast on a Wednesday evening and walk at John Muir as the sun is setting. That break in the week, shaking off the sluggishness that comes with hours spent at a desk. It doesn’t have to be a midweek walk: if I could drive, this would be my default walk any day. Getting in the car, driving for half an hour, and just being here. If I could drive, I wouldn’t be at my desk this evening writing this post. I’d be back here with the lads.
I don’t tend to share many throwbacks on Instagram, but this one was an exception – and it’s also encouraged me to dig back into the archives from the last few years and revisit (and share) some older photos with a fresh edit. This was John Muir Country Park on March 8 2020, and I hadn’t shared this photo at the time as the highlights were so fierce. It was one of those photos you take in the moment, and the light isn’t right, but you can’t resist capturing it anyway.
I’ve been wondering about trying something different here. One of the reasons I like Instagram is that you can let one photo tell a story. One photo that holds a memory or a moment. And that isn’t really reflected on a blog post with multiple images. So what about sharing some of those moments here too? It loosens up the format with short, loosely structured posts. And maybe it’s more personal. Why that photo? Why that moment? I thought I’d call this series #TakeOne.