American authors
27th July 2020 On the day that I am writing this, it has been raining much of the time. It is a day for indoor activities like reading and two large volumes have dominated mine over the last few weeks. One has been started, John McPhee's Annals of the Former World, while another was finished yesterday: Barry Lopez's Horizon.
Neither was the first occasion that I read works from either of these authors. McPhee's Coming into the Country came first. While I might have expected much on the nature of Alaskan wilderness, that also ventured into the human side of the place with its realists and its dreamers. It was the former with whom McPhee sided and I was left feeling concerned for a Caterpillar bulldozer outwintering in wilderness awaiting retrieval though its fate surely was known decades before.
It was Lopez's Arctic Dreams that I enjoyed during the past few months. Its prose evokes the sparse atmosphere of a variety of arctic locations in North America, a soothing escape for a frantic world in the midst of a global pandemic. Horizon remains the authors latest work even though it was published last year. Though there are reminders of its 1986 predecessor in chapters describing journeys around Skraeling Island in the Canadian Arctic and Antarctica, this is a very different work.
There are preoccupations with the state of our planet and its future that only fade slightly at the end. These percolate thinking at Cape Foulweather in Oregon and in Tasmania. Otherwise, hominid remnants in Kenya and present day life in the Galapagos Islands dominate the chapters devoted to them. At times, the journey reflects how our world is as well as how it is in places that are not so troubled. There might be an autobiographical element to the text but there are so many undercurrents that it is impossible to state that any dominates the whole work. Maybe, it reflects how lives are lived in a more serendipitous manner that we might admit and mine probably would fit this mould.
It is early days for Annals of the Former World with its healthy helping of geological narrative but it already is reading well for me. It is made of four preceding books (Basin and Range, In Suspect Terrain, Rising from the Plains, Assembling California) with an added fifth, Crossing the Craton. In its own way, this is building up my knowledge of North American geological history after Tim Flannery's Europe: The First 100 Million Years added similar insights with regard to that for my home continent.
Given I am attracted by hill and mountain country, an interest in how landscapes came to be formed should not be such a surprise. Not all areas appeal to me but there is little harm in knowing how they came to be as well. Nevada and Utah are such places given how desert-like they are and how hot they become. McPhee's writing centres around what nature does rather than what man alters as you will find in Nicholas Crane's The Making of the British Landscape. That we can also do damage cannot be avoided in Barry Lopez's Horizon and this even pervades nature writings from the likes of Jim Crumley, whose The Nature of Summer was among my reading during the last few weeks. After all, we are said to be living in the Anthropocene era of earth's history with all the responsibilities that it brings.
Vicissitudes of publishing
4th July 2020 For many, 2020 will be recalled as being very testing whatever their endeavour. Thankfully, my own line of work continues throughout the turmoil but others are not so lucky and the world of magazine publishing is just as affected. Even without an ongoing global pandemic, market conditions for the publishing of paper magazines are challenging anyway even if many have embraced electronic delivery.
The effects of all the change are more evident in photography and other activities affect by rapid changes in technology. Looking at computer magazines, numerous titles have disappeared from what once were loading newsagent shelves during their heyday in the 1990's. Even long-standing ones like PC Plus were not immune nor were others like PC World, PC Answers, PC Format, Linux User & Developer, Web Designer and Net. As personal computing became more mainstream and mobile devices became more powerful, the preceding interest waned and anything that remained often went online for technology news.
Of course, this is not a technology blog but photography is closer to the interest in outdoor activity. Here, there also was a surfeit of titles but some have gone. Photography Monthly and Advanced Photography are among these but most remain, perhaps due to digitisation of photographic capture and other innovations. Photography also is a subjective practice so it is easy to concentrate on camera performance when it is the combination of composition and exposure mastery that really matters.
Maybe that is why Outdoor Photography remains the only such title that I read. It focusses on technique, experiences and results so the content feels more substantial to me and I enjoyed clearing my backlog of unread issues throughout April and May. Its publishing scheduled has been buffeted by the ongoing pandemic to the extent that it virtually became bimonthly instead of monthly. A lockdown cannot help when it comes to getting new photographic content and the economic impact also diminishes advertising revenue.
Outdoor and travel magazines are similarly afflicted. For instance, Backpacker skipped an issue (July/August) because of the falloff of advertising revenue while the team focussed on creating useful email newsletters and content like How to Hike During COVID. Its content may be American in focus but there remains some commonality for elsewhere too and I look forward to seeing what is in the next issue of their magazine.
Another title that has had its publishing schedule altered is Wanderlust. Admittedly, thoughts of overseas travel are something that many are putting on hold and I count myself among them. Maybe that is why the current issue of the magazine focusses on Britain itself and that follows surveys that they did. It could be that I am not the only one thinking of a staycation this year.
Even though there is a chance of flights to some destinations becoming more realistic, my own sights are set closer to home for the moment. A backlog of unread issues of Ireland of the Welcomes is being reduced at the moment and there are there are unread copies of Scottish Islands Explorer to follow those. Reading will be plentiful for a while yet. There are other possibilities like the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man but getting to any of these remains restricted for now.
Despite all of this, one still can dream about heading further afield. Giving the way that things are at the moment, it is better to be patient. That will allow one to see if Lonely Planet Magazine returns to news-stands as well as gaining greater experience in very changed circumstances. We already have learned much and there is more to add to our knowledge and experience. Given the risks, it is better to be vigilant and careful since we need a sustainable return to some sort of normality that will persist. That also is better for anyone adversely effected since there is nothing worse than a regression.
Traipsing through two countries and three counties
28th June 2020 The start of a new year is often a time for reflection on what has gone before, as much as pondering the prospects of a year to come. In this, 2018 was no different, and I was in the middle of a career break as well, so the thinking turned to my next career moves and the choices that I arrived at in January 2018 continue to pervade more than two years later.
In fact, they affected the start of this year with another work break that allowed the taking of stock in light of then seemingly pervasive threats. Throughout this, I also got to wonder about future transatlantic excursions as a form of distraction. Many do love planning, but you need to be without an intrusive global event to make it happen. So all those dreams from January and February of this year are placed on hold.
Thankfully, it was only my own speed of inquiry and assessment that forestalled any overseas travel dreams in 2018. Other plans could be made to happen in a piecemeal if imperfect manner. What I needed to do is get over the residual stresses caused by what needed doing during 2016. At least, I did not have a global pandemic back, and I count myself very fortunate for that.
Returning to 2018 though, it was not as if all the required introspection ruled out day trips, quite like the activities or the weather of the first two months of this year. In fact, a few of those took me to Wales and the principality had not seen my making trips there for quite a while if I recall correctly. The sequence of Welsh outings actually began before Christmas 2017 when I embarked on a trip through the western end of the Brecon Beacons National Park. That took me through Abergavenny and Brecon as far as Neath before I continued my way home. In time, the possibility of exploring another quiet part of Wales may come to something.
My first Welsh excursion of 2018 actually took me to Cardiff, a city that I have long neglected, and the outing was repeated in part on the Spring Bank Holiday of 2019. Then, there may have been a Spice Girls reunion concert, yet what intruded on my ambling more were groups of cyclists going along multi-use trails. Sunshine pervaded on both visits, but thoughts of basing myself in Cardiff for a few days to explore the countryside within its vicinity retain their appeal. While I might do some cycling of my own too, I do intend to leave better space for walkers, especially around the delightful Bute Park and along the banks of the River Taff.
So far, what I am talking about is a spot of reconnaissance that may lead to future trips and there is one other excursion in January 2018 that deserves a mention before the main trip report, and it leads easily into it. That took me from Macclesfield to Aberystwyth via Shrewsbury and Llangurig. Not only did that take me past Pumlumon Fawr by bus, but the stopover at Llangurig also allowed some muddy walking along part of the Wye Valley Walk. What I really was exploring though were the logistics of getting near Pumlumon Fawr for an ascent of one of the highest hills in mid-Wales. That left me with the framework for a scheme that either would use Aberystwyth as a base or involve a bivvy on the side of the hill, depending on how brave I feel.
The Wye and Severn rivers both rise on Pumlumon Fawr, yet that was not where my Welsh wandering took me next. It may have featured the same River Wye, but this was a circular ramble, with Monmouth at its starting and ending points. In truth, I also fancy a visit to Tintern Abbey, but remains outstanding too, and the idea for the Monmouth excursion lay in my mind for quite a while before it happened.
Calling the route a circular one does much to hide its actual complexity, with some of that arising from serendipity. At my arrival in Monmouth, all that was yet unknown as I passed through it heart, with older buildings like those of its church and its independent school adding interest along the way. The school's students were going hither and thither in their boisterous ways and, fancying an air of greater peace, I left them to those to reach the River Wye.
There, I met up with the Wye Valley Walk that was to convey me along the Welsh side of the river; Offa's Dyke Path also passed hereabouts, but that was not part of my designs since I was bound for Symonds Yat. With the hubbub of the A40 in the background, I relished the sunny morning as much as I could. Apart perhaps from the likes of St. Peter's Church near Dixton, those early stages were not to be peppered with so much in the way of human construction.
Forested hills lay to my right and in front of me as I went, and it was around these that I was to spend much of my time. Some were to be more easily named than others, but that did not detain my thinking as I reached the point where the river parted from the busy motorised thoroughfare. Beyond Wyastone Leys, my surrounding were to become much quieter and much now forested.
The forested route may have limited opportunities for photography, but I was soon enough at The Biblins where I would cross the Wye and encounter a greater human presence. Some were walking and others cycling, but there was enough room for all of us, and I still recall having the place to myself at times.
It was afternoon by the time that I reached the eastern part of Symonds Yat. Not only had the trail led me onto tarmac, but I had crossed into England and was in Herefordshire. The road and any traffic that was passing along it was left behind to round Huntsham Hill and return through Elliot's Wood. What became clear was how late in the afternoon it was getting, so I was anxious to keep going and photographic efforts stopped.
After reaching a road again, I then left it to go through Mailscot Wood and into both Gloucestershire and part of the Forest of Dean. With the road to Christchurch never far away, I was lured along a trail nearly as far as Hillersland before I turned in the direction of the River Wye again. That felt longer than was ideal given how late it was in the shortness of a January day.
Soon enough, though, I was back on the route of the Wye Valley Walk and heading towards Monmouth again. However, I decided against crossing the river until I reached the Wye Bridge in Monmouth, so following Route 423 of the National Cycle Network. By now I was back in Wales and soon enough reached a section of the railway that once connected Monmouth and Symonds Yat. That made navigation less of a concern as the hours of daylight faded.
Eventually, the gloaming would turn into full darkness and torch-lit walking along tarmac returned me to Monmouth, where I had plenty of time to find the bus terminus that I had not used on my arrival. Tintern was passed in darkness on the way home, but that fact did nothing to spoil the satisfying day out. In fact, it remains a useful excuse for returning to a delightful part of Wales.
Travel Arrangements
Train journey from Macclesfield to Hereford with a change at Stockport, followed by bus travel from Hereford to Monmouth using service 36. Bus journey from Monmouth to Chepstow using service 69 followed by train travel from there back to Macclesfield with a change in Birmingham New Street.
From north to north
27th June 2020 As a western European with a liking for cool temperate conditions, the sweltering temperatures we got on Wednesday and Thursday did not suit me so much and hot nights did my sleep little favours. One saving grace is that these did not stay around that long and today though is cooler if rainier. It would be better to have it dry too but I will more than make do with lower temperatures.
One thing that strikes me is my wanderings often take me northwards. Scotland was a favoured haven for many years and Scandinavia also retains my favour. Of course, we cannot travel so far at the moment and Swedes are even more restricted given their management of the pandemic. In any event, it is either Norway, Iceland or even the Faroe Islands that would lure me their way.
All of that is for the future right now so I am sating my wanderlust through my reading. This often takes me north and that especially has been the case with Gavin Francis' True North, Malachy Tallack's 60 Degrees North and Peter Davidson's The Idea of North. The first of these featured much of Scandinavian Sagas with the second being much more like a journey of personal discovery.
The last of the three is even more literary than the others and conflates British thinking on the north along with that in other more obvious places around Europe, North America and Asia. To me, it feels like a bifurcation even if some British authors and painters did venture to Iceland and Greenland themselves. It may be that the point happens to be that there is no universal feeling towards the northern reaches of our planet.
After all, it might be that what draws me north sends others south and that could apply to reading choices like anything else. As it happens, there is quite a canon of northern reading in my e-book collection. The list also includes Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams, John McPhee's Coming into the Country and Sara Wheeler's The Magnetic North. It may be that the spareness of the empty landscapes is what allows the creation of more meticulous prose or that the stories are about how insignificant humankind is in such places and is that which draws me. After all, my idea of a good walk is one that includes plenty of solitude.
A growing collection of Scottish could be added here too but for there then being too many lists in one blog entry. Still, there might be something to the explanation being the attraction of emptier lands. Nevertheless, many account feature stories of people too so there may be the sort of tension in my reading that Peter Davidson includes in The Idea of North.
When I went checking to ensure there was no title repetition, I met up with a post from 2014 written after I completed Paul Morely's The North. That was a peopled tome and included England's north-west that I read largely on buses and trains during a testing bunch of years when family bereavements turned over my life. Reading my own words now feels a bit like reading those written by another author. All it took was the passing of a few years to do the separation.
We all are going through testing times at the moment so you only can dream of long distance travel even if you see airlines restarting some of their routes. Until I go from north to north in reality, there could be more virtual travelling via accounts written by others. Some will be adventurous enough to start roaming soon enough but I reckon that it is better to see what their experiences are before doing the same myself. The pandemic journey is not over quite yet.
On stress & tension
25th June 2020 This year has been one of the most stressful that I can remember and came after months of uncertainty about my business affairs as well. The latter was sorted but the new combination of fear of the unknown and being reminded strongly of one's mortality was enough to provide a poor foundation for dealing with subsequent reductions in liberty. The result was a tension episode that lasted several weeks and needed discussions with professionals to help clarify my thinking so I could do what was really needed.
Throughout all of this, getting out for walks and cycles proved crucial. Some were longer than others; the time spent ranged from thirty minutes to a few hours and even whole days, all in the spirit of dealing with what I was experiencing. Having things open up more has helped the mood though I remain cautious and try to observe social distancing as much as I can though that involves the cooperation of others, something that is not always forthcoming. It might be that a mix of fatigue and complacency is not helping such compliance.
Aside from the above tooling for dealing with tough times, there ironically have been other things that I could have been doing if I had thought of them. Relaxation exercises are among these and I have an audio recording that I got in 2010 that really has helped. Two and five breathing exercises on a fitness watch have had benefits too. Both have helped me get back to other forms of relaxation like reading, which really does help and some of the books that have been occupying my time already have seen mentions on here. It also happens that magazine backlogs have been cleared too so I have been taken on other journeys as well as being taught new things.
All that means that my situation has come a long way in the right direction and I now have more of an understanding of my own neurology than I ever would have requested. Sensations are not treated with the severity that they once were since they could be caused by stress and it now appears that doing otherwise has been the cause of adding tension, resulting in the creation of a vicious circle. In other words, a new sense of perspective has been discovered and the new understanding can be applied equally well to other previous experiences.
As things progress to a more bearable counterpart to the normality that we once enjoyed without valuing it as much as we should have done, I can look back on other occasions and recognise other stress-busters like spending time exercising on a bike trainer while reading. We are enjoying long hours of daylight now but darker evenings could need an alternative and being on a bike trainer could help and might even have got me through tough times before without my realising it.
In so many ways, there were things in my favour like being able to work from home and having activities that occupied my time. Still, the situation got to me and I did not make as much use of the tools available to me as I should have done. If nothing else has been learned from the episode, that will be retained in memory for future reference.
