Letting Our Little Light Shine

Some years ago, having got used to my Flickr account and having got onto amicable terms, my now virtual friend Billie from the Beach asked a very sensible question.
"Does the sun ever shine over there?"

It's difficult to explain that I probably have come to prefer muted tones and mysterious dusky photos, with a strong bias towards black and white images in real film rather than digital. Friends from brighter climates are forever putting on lights which startle me into an over-alert state as, in Summer at least, I like the long steady evening light.

However, the ongoing gloom of January is ahead and at this time, the only strategy is to avoid looking at anything out of doors by bringing the blinds down and filling the house with good strong electric light.

And the sun did actually shine a few days ago and I managed to capture the moment on film..

Well, Blow Me Down With a Feather...

I don't have the energy to post on Davimack's blog, being in another system as it is.
However it is a relief to know that they are surviving merrily enough given the circumstances of being caught up in some tornado or other. I don't know if the hilarity the pieces have caused me are intended, but having weathered snow last year my virtual friends have taken the gales on the chin and are knitting, writing and making beautiful photos as usual.
I woke to a report from the BBC that a delighted arboriculturalist was actually out in the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens to study the top of a 50 foot felled tree. It's rare to be able to study such a specimen, it seems. Good news was forthcoming. The lichens at the top of the tree are numerous and healthy, evidence of good air quality.

Somebody out there must have heard all our pleas for the moaning to stop.
We are now being blown away with happy stories...

Dublin in Winter