😶‍🌫️ I’m waking up to one of those misty mornings that I sense will transform into a beautiful sunny, and maybe hot day.

Mountains, Rain, and Pat Metheny

I sit here in 2024 in a house in Portugal, and a piece of music transports me back to 1985, to a hiking hut somewhere in mountains of the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Almost forty years have passed, but the memory is vivid and the effect of that time on my life feels as real now as it did all the way back then. Let me give you some context.

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April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 21: Mountain suggested by @dejus

A road running through the mountains of the Lake District with slate in the foreground.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 20: Ice suggested by @the

This photograph shows the terminus of the Batura Glacier in the Karakorum mountains of Pakistan. It sits at around 4,000m (13,123ft), and at the time that I visited the glacier terminated 0.5km from the Karakoram Highway.

The terminus of the Batura Glacier in Pakistan showing a wall of ice with rocks and boulders in the foreground.

🇵🇹 Olá Portugal

🇵🇹 Olá Portugal

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 19: Birthday suggested by me (@crossingthethreshold)

A series of small flags on a piece of string spelling out Happy Birthday. Strung above an open glass door with a view to outside

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 18: Mood suggested by @agilelisa

A rowing boat and small sail boat moored in a river estuary. In the foreground is a small rusty walkway. In the background are rolling green meadows and buildings just poking over the trees.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 17: Transcendence suggested by @drewbelf

Tibetan Buddhist Stupa

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 16: Flâneur suggested by @chrisaldrich

People walking along a street in Kyoto, Japan.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 15: Small suggested by @jmanes

A black and white photo of a small, tortoise shaped pin cushion

Monday April 15, 2024 Newsletter letter

Monday April 15, 2024 Dear Friends, Being home, being back in Britain, always fills my time. Whether that is sitting talking with my mum, catching up with friends (on the phone and in person), or going for walks. Routine is not so present in my life and I find that with that my writing diminishes. I want to write, but find myself either too tired to concentrate or in need to wind down from the last social activity.

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☔ It’s pouring outside, and not particularly warm either - Spring, from a few days ago appears to have taken a leave of absence. Right now I am grateful for a roof over my head, and heating in the home.

☔ It’s pouring outside, and not particularly warm either - Spring, from a few days ago appears to have taken a leave of absence. Right now I am grateful for a roof over my head, and heating in the home.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 14: Cactus suggested by @christopherchelpka

Small cactus in a pot

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 13: Page suggested by @robj

A journal resting on my lap in a dark room, illuminated by a book reading light.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 12: Magic suggested by @DaveyCraney

The outline of a person maybe Shakespeare, on a wall surrounding a door, approached by a wooden bridge.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 11: Sky suggested by @jedda

The sun pears through a thick cloud fog as people and a dog sit around a picnic blanket looking on.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 10: Train suggested by @starrwulfe

Looking down on a train approaching a station.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 9: Crispy suggested by @rom

Grilling fish in a Japanese restaurant.