Trafalgar Square

The sky was a fantastic blue today, so I headed into London to see the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, then had a wander around Trafalgar Square. There is something about the winter light which is so crisp and pure on a sunny day. I didn’t have my Nikon with me, but I couldn’t help but play with the camera on my iphone.

I liked these nattily dressed young Londoners.

You’d think you were in Canada, what with all the flags on Canada House.

Phone boxes.

The blue chicken! Oh, the blue chicken! Love!

And, of course, Landseer’s lions.

Nelson (he’s up there somewhere).

A broad sweep.

Love Haiku: Falling

 

Thinking of your smile

opens my heart — you must know

that it beats for you.

Love Haiku: Soul Mate

 

I find you, walking,

unexpected, but we see

ourselves reflected.

Squirrel

Taking a break from packing up the flat, I go out for a jog. The early morning light glints off the river and sends fingers of light across the park.

There’s a fresh winter chill and a layer of frost still lingers on the grass.

I spot a squirrel eating a nut in a tree, almost, but not quite camouflaged.

It was just me and the squirrel. Enjoying a lovely January morning.

Love Haiku: Yearning

 

The wind in the trees,

the cry of birds, a dog’s bark —

you are in it all.

London Skies

The clouds hung like smoke over the Thames this morning, pressing the sky’s ceiling onto London’s skyscrapers…

…and landmarks.  Tower Bridge…

…and the Tower of London.

An hour later I emerged from my meeting and patches of blue were starting to push through the clouds…

…painting the glass skyscrapers.

Love Haiku: Anticipation

 

Your footstep quickens

my heartbeat; I wait for you

but you pass me by.

Red Geraniums

I walk down a London street. Grey has settled on the city like a dirty blanket. Then I see red.

Then I think, “I have never noticed how beautiful geraniums are”.

A Walk by the River

I’ve been making the most of living by the River Lea these past few days — going out for walks or jogs whenever I can, especially as I’ll be moving soon. Tottenham Hale has been a wonderful place to live — quite a hidden gem of London. Sshhhhh. Don’t tell anyone.

I’ve been living with the calls of geese, ducks, moorhens and gulls resonating in the background of my life. And I love to see them on my walks…

…not to mention the lovely mute swans…

…and the herons.

When the morning sun pulls me out of bed early, I pull on my jogging shoes and head along the towpath to the local park for a slow jog…

…admiring the sunlight streaking across the green fields and the quiet of the morning, broken only by the calls of the birds on the river.

And, in the lee of a garden wall by the towpath I glimpse some white — early daisies.

January offers its own gifts if you take the time to look for them. Perhaps all the more special because you have to work to uncover them.