Good Morning Fungi after a Blood Moon

After trekking into the darkness to find a Blood Moon* we returned in the daylight finding wonders at our feet, well fungus at the very least.  These mushrooms caused quite some hilarity.  Well my affecting strange non-yoga like postures in order to get close up to my subjects did.  My 550D was quite new and in a spirit of scientific endeavour I enjoyed testing the strength left in me and the abilities of the camera and lens to capture these funguses on film.  These small flora spring up in the thousands almost from nowhere and seemingly return back to nowhere.  These shots are shared with the idea that some transient moments in life are not necessary to be, or maybe even worthy of being recorded but when they are documented then these records offer several windows into spaces we rarely choose to look.  For me these pictures bring back memories of a good morning and they also promise that there are more such mornings to come when the seemingly trivial might be alternatively noteworthy.

No funguses were harmed during the taking and making of these pictures.  None of the funguses featured here were picked, or eaten.  One photographer was harmed due his assuming improbable positions in order not to damage fungal growths.  A recovery cup of tea almost healed all ails for the damaged photographer.

*Blood Moon, or Bloodmoon is sometimes called a Hunter's Moon and is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon.  Occasionally the close orbit of the Moon brings a greater prominence and luminance to the Moon.  This was the case for the Blood Moon we had been seeking in a remote location beyond the glare of light pollution from modern cities.  Since the Moon's sidereal period differs from its synodic period, the perigee of the Moon (the point where it is closest to the Earth) does not stay in sync with the phases of the Moon.  Thus the Blood Moon does not correspond to any special timing of the Moon's distance from the Earth. This is why the Blood Moon is not, in general, brighter than any other regular full moon.

Toppled Tombstones St John The Baptist Church Dodworth

These pictures are from the second set taken in January 2012.  They show the brilliant sunlight bringing out the strong winter colours on frosty toppled tombstones in front of the church.  These stones were taken down from their original monumental positions when an area of the churchyard was cleared.  Many stones were taken from the churchyard but these were lined up as an ornamental feature outside the west door.  The sharp frost and bright sunlight made that morning a fantastic time to capture a changing view.  The sun brought warmth and light on to scene which dispelled the shadows and frost.  The churchyard setting had been completely transformed before I left.

When monuments carved to last the test of time are toppled for health and safety reason it seems a poor fate to have befallen the makers of final resting places.  Those that set these stones in place would probably have thought that their funerary monuments would stand defiant of the passage of time like those they had seen in ancient burial grounds.  Unfortunately the fate of the fallen is not as final as it might first be presumed.  Even the afterlife is beset with troublesome issues of land ownership and usage.  It was enlightening to contemplate the ever changing conditions in the cemetery as the morning sun drove away the frost and the old churchyard seemed to show how much room the cemetery clearance was making for future generations.

I often pass this church at all hours as it is close to my family home in South Yorkshire.  Several of my family are buried in this churchyard and I might one day be here too.  These images form testament for me from my present to both my past and future.  This collection is a reminder of where I have come from and where my paths may be leading to.

Wortley Mummers in Wortley South Yorkshire for the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations 4 June 2012

At the celebrations in Wortley it was great to catch the Mummers about their playing. Having a mix of traditional and contemporary themes and props the current performances seem to show the roots of much humour that is still enacted for us today. There was St George fighting another knight, with walk-ons for The Devil and Doctor Good, there was something for everyone. Mummers performances are a great part of feasts and fetes as they provide entertainment for all seasons.

Lady Tweedsmuir visited Wortley Hall one Christmas time in her childhood she later recounted a visit from the Mummers.
“I remember in a childish way being interested in the mummers, realising dimly that they came from an alien world, quite different to the ordered and staid mode of life in that staid and orderly household of Wortley Hall, and that they represented something historical, rough, and elemental.”

An extract from The Lilac and the Rose by Susan Tweedsmuir

Lady Tweedsmuir was an author herself and the wife of author John Buchan who wrote The Thirtynine Steps.