Winter Romance

I wrote this a month ago...wonder why I didn't post it....

As winter knocks at my doorstep, people seem to sulk more but I am happy to experience it all, the dreadfully dull days, the cold wind and rain, the snow, the Christmas shopping crowds, the tube rush hour...

Yesterday, while walking down a quiet London Street I couldn't help but feel merry despite the cold and grey weather. It was so romantic and for a few moments time almost stood still. It was a very cold dark evening. The delicious crunch of golden autumn leaves beneath my feet drowned the din of traffic in the distance. The street looked like a maple carpet with shades of gold, red and amber.

The university clock chimed 6 O'clock. Wrapped up in my woollens, bracing the wind, I passed by a small square strewn with autumn leaves. It had a lonely gazebo in the centre. The street lights cast a warm golden glow on the quite street.  I stopped and took a deep breath to cherish the moment before walking on into the darkness.

Stroke of Light

This is a picture that I took almost by mistake. To me it proves that effects are not just for fancy SLR wielding photographers(read hubby who’s quite awesome with his and spends loads of time and money on it ). In fact creativity just requires some simple thinking and playing around with your instrument of choice. The beauty of this snapshot is that it just happened. 

It was towards the end of a longish day at the Thames Festival when I was juggling shopping, handbag, umbrella, food and my humble but very reliable point and shoot, in my hands while trying to capture the fairy lights that had just come on giving a lovely warm and festive feel to the Southbank. As I fumbled with my camera and stuff around my shoulder, arm, palm and fingers, (it’s amazing how much stuff you can manage to carry if you make good use of space) I saw this effect on the LCD screen as the camera moved and thought, “ hey that looks good!” I could create this effect as I click to get a dissolve or what I like to call “the twirl or even swirl” effect! Well, I nearly dropped all my things in the excitement of this unexpected discovery and went on to click a couple of shots.

This one here, is my favourite, goes to show that creativity can happen in the most unlikely circumstances. How do you achieve this? While clicking just rotate your camera… and lo and behold! You can change exposure to create different strokes of light. Now, how cool is that?

Autumn heralds its arrival…

Woke up this morning to this sight! What a beautiful way to begin the day. I was so thrilled to see the first fog of the season that I actually got up and reached out for my camera. Very unusual for me. I am the sort that sets my alarm half hour early so that I can laze in bed and try my best not to get up, if I can help it.  A habit acquired during my school days when I’d go back to sleep after mom woke me until, she took away my duvet to force me out of bed. Now the SNOOZE button is my best friend.

I love cold mornings in bed! I love the snug feeling of being cosily tucked in my warm duvet until the sun or my husband coax me out of it. Umm…bliss. I love that I can sleep until later in winter. I don’t enjoy the thought of moving my clock back by an hour in summer!

Technorati Tags: weather fog morning autumn

 

 

Tea with History

For me, the most exciting part of any holiday is the unexpected. I mean, sure I like to do the popular sights but I’m always looking out for something the tourist guide may have overlooked and discover a new place or experience unspoilt by crowds of regular tourists.

And I don’t mean any exotic find, off the beaten path. Just experiencing something simple, preferably local yet special. It’s what really gives you a peek into the ethos of the region you’re visiting. I have a fondness for the quaint and seek out charming little shops or cafés when travelling.

On a recent jaunt to Plymouth, my husband and I discovered a local treasure, The Tudor Rose Tea rooms located in a Tudor House dating back to the 1640s. We were ambling along one of the oldest cobbled streets in Plymouth, soaking in the atmosphere and admiring the ancient buildings when we came upon this quaint little place. What better way to experience the famous Devon cream tea than at a historical site?

The very friendly Chef informed us that the house belonged to a wealthy merchant in the Elizabethan age. The tea rooms had the original antique heavy teak tables and chairs owned by its former occupants and had some lovely vintage tea ware displayed. It still had the original banister & staircase intact. The floors were gently sloping, a typical characteristic of the era we were informed. At the back of the house was a pretty garden where perhaps the lady of the house would have entertained in summer.

The cream tea arrived with 2 scones - a fruit and a plain, lovingly dusted with icing sugar placed on a pretty white paper lace doily served with fresh strawberry jam and clotted cream. It was just gorgeous and more than lived up to my expectations.

We were so thrilled with the experience that we returned the next day to sample some more of their lovely food. This time we sat in the garden as it was sunny and very pleasant. The breakfast of crispy flaky croissants and crisp golden French toast was just what one needed to make one's day! That was topped by delicious apple pie which came highly recommended by the chef....scrumptious pastry and not filled with soggy stewed apples but a very nice and light apple-cinnamon filling. It was a perfect way to end a relaxing weekend.

We were very sorry to leave the place.

Hyper beings

Even though we are self absorbed beings,isn't it paradoxical how we don't break redundant, wasteful, even self defeating behaviour patterns. If we are so obsessed with ourselves and our likes and dislikes and wants and desires, shouldn't that make us want to have more pleasant, deeply satisfying and efficient experiences.

Funnily enough, we don't do that. In our fast paced, hyper, cyber active, quick gratification oriented lives who looks at the bigger picture? But there are times when life slows down a bit and you catch yourself acting in what is now a behaviour pattern, surprisingly not one you chose to develop very consciously.

I am so used to getting instant results for everything; instant coffee, online shopping, which is very addictive and a trend that credit card companies will cash in on leading to the next banking crisis, instant food - fast and unhealthy takeaways, instant entertainment, instant communication - if my broadband takes more than 30 secs to connect I panic!; that anything that doesn't deliver quick is automatically eliminated from my list of available choices.

I have lost patience, I no longer read as much as I used to, Google is the answer to all qs including what to cook tonight, why think just google it! I eat fast, I shower quick, I scan the newspaper, I take short cuts to housework, I multi-task (damn American jargon!) at work and slowly I've forgotten how to live a simple happy well paced life! I'm only running a marathon each day but I'm not sure why, or even if I want to, or chose to. It just happened.

Then one day you get a wake up call....something snaps and you realise what you've been mindlessly doing. Isn't this the story of most of our lives? scary isn't it! Is this what technology has done to us? I mean wasn't modern technology meant to make life more convenient and save time? Then how come I find, that with my mobile phone, high speed broadband, sat nav, wi-fi and what have you, I'm more pressed for time and more stressed than ever before? Work carries itself home in my laptop, a relaxing family dinner is disturbed by the beeping cell phone, suddenly I'm working more hours than before. Earlier once you left work, you really left it. But now I'm accessible! Strange paradox?

I came across this quote the other day and it made me wonder what is this haste we make? What are we trying so desperately to achieve that we unknowingly lose control of our lives and would we do this if we realised we're running without really getting anywhere?

“If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character...Would you slow down? Or speed up?”